On 01-Mar-12 15:33, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 01-Mar-12 14:59, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Stephen Sprunk wrote:

Also note that many consumers today have _valid_ cards with little/no
available credit, so it's not sufficient anyway if a merchant wants to
ensure their transaction will be accepted.

No one would care on suburban/commuter railway, since the discussion
drifted back on topic, where the only concern is if fare collection in
aggregate is improved and cost of fare collection is lowered.

How long do you think it would take enterprising folks to figure out
that a $5 prepaid card from the convenience store will allow them to
ride _forever_?

That's not a credit card.

There is no way for the terminal to know whether the Visa/MC/etc. number
presented is a credit, debit or charge card. A card processor _may_ be
able to deduce it from other information, but only the issuing bank
knows for sure.

Also, I asked about loading bad account numbers into the devices.

It's not a "bad" account number, i.e. invalid or canceled; it just
doesn't have sufficient funds available for that particular transaction
to post. Discovering such a status is, of course, the point of
authorization.

In intercity train travel, well, you assume that the traveler has
available credit, as it's difficult to travel without credit cards.

It may come as a surprise to some, but many people have more than one card.

And everyone commits deliberate fraud.

Not everyone, but a non-trivial fraction of the population will do so if
they believe it's easy and low-risk. As the saying goes, "locks keep
honest people honest."

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking