Scam scam scam

[notsteve_@lemmy.ca]

I travelled to the US from Canada recently and was super confused when I didn't need to enter my PIN. Was also really confused about giving away my credit card to bartenders

[nalivai@lemmy.world]

I don't know how much domestic agriculture changed in the last 30 years, but 30 years ago growing enough veggies for couple of winter months was a full-time everyday job for 2 people in our family, with another 4 having to help regularly. I don't think there is enough free time for that right now

[kilgore_trout@feddit.it]

What is a food card, and food stamps? Is this some kind of US-only dystopia?

[jackcooper@lemmy.world]

It's a social safety net thing which I think Lemmy is usually in favor of

[abbadon420@lemm.ee]

At least credit cards are... on credit. You can usually just stop a transaction if someone makes unauthorised use of your credit card. If this also happens with debit cards, your in more trouble. Than the money is just gone.

[my_hat_stinks@programming.dev]

Yes, in a way. My understanding is that in the US instead of giving less fortunate people the money to buy what they need they get given tokens which can only be used for specific types of items. Obviously it'd be a lot cheaper to skip that extra admin cost and give the money directly instead of maintaining an entirely separate type of currency, but you can't trust those filthy poors to know what they need. And hygiene products are one thing they don't need, apparently.

[davidgro@lemmy.world]

Fortunately in the US debit does generally require the PIN and always has even before chips.

[evidences@lemmy.world]

The actual program name is snap but everyone still just calls it food stamps and I'm pretty sure now food stamps are just handed out as cash on prepaid debit cards. I think there some categories that you can't use snap benefits to buy, like anything alcohol or cigarettes, but other than that I think it's pretty much a free for all.

There are other programs like WIC that I think do give out very specific benefits but those are laser focused on certain groups.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff I've never used snap or any of the other food assistance programs in the states.

[maggoty@lemmy.world]

The name is old, it used to be actual stamps in a booklet. It's a restricted use debit card now. So you can buy eggs with it but not a music CD. Still pretty degrading.

[impastasyndrome@lemm.ee]

Just in case you didntbget it or my joke it's for dead bodies of the people they hunted down and murdered

[kilgore_trout@feddit.it]

I am not debating on the positive outcome of it… I simply never heard of it.

[jackbydev@programming.dev]

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

[irelephant@lemm.ee]

On some revolut (finance app, popular in ireland) cards the magenetic strip is disabled by default.

[dan@upvote.au]

It's a thing (or used to be a thing) in Australia too: a voucher or prepaid debit card that can only be used to buy food, given to low-income residents.

Australia actually has a proper safety net for low-income residents though, with public health care and monthly payments from the government if you're unemployed and looking for a job, or you're a child / young adult and your parents are low income, or a few other cases.

[dan@upvote.au]

Mastercard started removing the magnetic strip from new cards this year in some European countries, and want to completely remove it by 2029.

In the US, I've actually got one card that doesn't have a magnetic strip: a debit card for Target stores (gives 5% discount for every purchase which is why I have it).

[dan@upvote.au]

Tap to pay is much safer though.

[kammicrelief@lemmy.world]

oh! ah and now I see the hands. I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. thanks!

[danvctr@sh.itjust.works]

What's a CD? /s

[crazylikegollum@lemmy.world]

Not if you're using your card. The card can still be cloned with a few seconds of physical access. Also, with a card, there's no PIN verification with tap to pay and no signature requirements. Because of that most countries have transaction size limits for tap to pay. Usually in the $50-$100 USD range. The US, notably has no such limits. So, if someone steals your card they can use it up to your balance/credit limit, or up to the transaction limit your bank sets, typically about $10,000 USD.

Tap to pay using a phone, apple watch, or similar device is more secure because they have actual 2FA and generate unique payment information for each transaction on top of the already existing encryption of the transaction data. Additionally, cloning the underlying payment info would require being able to access the secure enclave on the phone.