Try to pay with a foreign card in France and you'll see it can be pretty slow. C... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

		hocuspocus on June 26, 2017 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Ask HN: Why are credit card chip readers so slow? Try to pay with a foreign card in France and you'll see it can be pretty slow. Chips were introduced in France at a time where connecting all terminals wasn't practical/cheap. For this historical reason, most payment terminals aren't processing the transaction online in presence of a domestic card, even if they can. Offline transactions are very quick.

shawnz on June 26, 2017 [–]

So if offline transactions are viable, and faster, then why doesn't the US use them?

kalleboo on June 26, 2017 | [–]

They were viable 30 years ago, maybe not today

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact