How do I pay by card without entering a PIN code?

Alexander Karabanov2013-08-11 13:54:26

Payment systems

Alexander Karabanov, 2013-08-11 13:54:26

Hello.

I always thought that in order to make a payment with a card protected by a PIN code, you need to enter this same PIN code, but today I was convinced of the opposite. I went to the tomato store to buy, but there was no cash in my pocket and I paid with a card (I had never paid with a card in this store before), the cashier ran the card over the reader, entered some magic combination on the keyboard (as soon as she started pressing the keys, in my head thoughts flashed: what is she doing and when will she give me a terminal so that I can enter a PIN code?), I pressed Enter and ... And the phone vibrated in my pocket: an SMS notification about a successful debit O_o

How does such an operation take place? Why is this possible?

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7 answer(s)

rPman, 2013-08-11
@karabanov

I will not answer with algorithms, but I will answer differently.
Bank payments for physicists are roughly divided into two types - ' ~~easy~~ -hard-to-cancel' and 'not-too-cancellable'. The first ones are made without requiring a PIN code. Such payments can be rolled back acc. an application to the bank (for example, when a card or information from a magnetic strip is stolen by a carder).
Operations performed by entering a PIN code are non-refundable, i.e. it is practically impossible to cancel them (although I think this is not entirely impossible if there are sufficient grounds, such as a court).
By the way, the need to choose an authorization method is determined not only by the presence of a chip on the card (as well as by the type of payments, for example, payment from a credit card with a loss), but simply by the end equipment. In one store. in which I often pay for purchases by card, one of the three cash desks, regardless of the type of card (debit or not), does not require a PIN code from me, explaining this as 'this is the terminal we have there'.

flight, 2013-08-11
@flight

What she entered is the last 4 digits of your card number. Pin is needed only for large purchases and if they call you back from the bank and ask if you paid with a card. The exact limit of purchases without a pin depends on your bank.

interrupt_controller, 2013-08-11
@interrupt_controller

sometimes what she entered is just the payment amount

max_mara, 2013-08-12
@max_mara

In general, a pin code is not required to complete a transaction, any merchant can try to conduct a transaction with the card number and expiration date or the number from the magnetic tape available. Most likely, in your store you were either asked to sign the check, or the amount of your purchase was less than some insignificant limit, so that the store did not fool you.
And the girl entered the payment amount and possibly the last four digits from your card.
Why do offline merchants ask for a signature, sometimes a passport or a pin code? Do online merchants ask for CVC and billing address? To reduce the number of scammers and protect yourself from problems. No merchant will last long serving scammers.

Dmitry, 2013-08-12
@totalcount

A pin, without a pin, it’s still all right ...
But when the card is protected by 3D Secure and the required amount is withdrawn from it on the site without problems (even without CVC / CVV), now it’s already interesting how?

Alexander Karabanov, 2013-08-11
@karabanov

Thanks everyone for the replies.
In general, the principle is clear. Nothing supernatural, everything is explainable and legal.
I will write an e-mail to the bank to clarify the limits and other subtleties.

vsespb, 2013-08-11
@vsespb

Oh times, oh manners! Previously, I was surprised back when payment by card occurred with the requirement of a PIN code!