> When you swipe a card at a gas station, they often run a $50 authorization hold on your account.
Safeway gas stations upgraded their pumps to have tap-to-pay.
But with increasing gas prices (and not getting into that), they upped the auth hold to up to $125.
Except many card issuers limit contactless payments to $100... rendering tap to pay useless on the pump because it'll deny the preauth and require chip insertion.
> Except many card issuers limit contactless payments to $100... rendering tap to pay useless on the pump because it'll deny the preauth and require chip insertion.
I’ve noticed lately that contactless payments that go over the limit don’t require chip insertion, the reader just asks for the PIN to proceed. Maybe there’s been some updates to the standards?
Hmmm, not all credit cards have a PIN. Debit card, I could see that. I don't know if the data on the card indicates if there is a PIN attached to the card (i.e. ask for it if there is, don't ask if there's not).
The card and terminal communicate on which CVMs (cardholder verification method) they support, and they agree on one. If they can't agree the transaction is either cancelled or processed as "no CVM" (like normal contactless tap & pay with a card) depending on the terminal's and card's risk profile.
We had a similar issue with ATM in Austria where they are all set to max give you 400 EUR. Which was a sensible idea in 2001 but pays for much less in 2024. Somehow the banks have never heard of inflation or really don’t want you to use cash
Safeway gas stations upgraded their pumps to have tap-to-pay.
But with increasing gas prices (and not getting into that), they upped the auth hold to up to $125.
Except many card issuers limit contactless payments to $100... rendering tap to pay useless on the pump because it'll deny the preauth and require chip insertion.