OK, so this may not mean anything to anyone who lives outside of London, or outside the M25, or at the very least those unable to take a day trip there. But instead of ye olde fasioned stylee paper tickets, you now use an RFID digital ticketing system called Oyster. You swipe your card, the gates open and you merrily get on the underground/bus/train/tram, whatever.
Barclaycard see this idea and think 'ooh, could we do that for items less than a tenner' - so it looks like that's what they have done:
http://www.paymentsnews.com/2006/12/barclaycard_to_.htmlBut hang on a minute. If you can swipe your card through your handbag or wallet, surely this means that someone can walk past you in the street and nick a tenner from your barclaycard. In London, someone could make a lot of money walking down a street like that.
It's bad enough that we don't sign for anything any more but at least we have a pin number. Surely this has got to be protected in some way (but they don't mention it).
The transport for London Oyster works well because you pay the money direct to TFL and then it's a closed system. i.e. the money has gone to TFL and then you travel, there'd be no point in trying to reduce the cash on people's cards.
Does any clever bod have any idea how this is likely to work?
