In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 18/09/2014 07:44, Roland Perry wrote:
[...]
It is indeed "apparently simple" About two lines of code could apply
such a discount to a suitably registered contactless account.

You'd need a solid system in place to verify that the payment card
holder really did hold a Railcard.

Then you'd need a solid system in place for RPIs and the like to be
informed that they should also checking for a valid Railcard.

Bit more than two lines of code there.

Actually, all that stuff is already needed for Oyster loaded with a
Railcard.

One significant difference is that the Railcard discount flag is
actually stored on the Oyster card - that's not possible with CPCs
(just possibly might be with a future generation of them).

Is that significant for CPCs, though? Everything about them is stored at the
back office.

RPIs do ask to see associated Railcards.

Once in a blue moon.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 18 Sep 2014 09:14:08 +0100, Neil Williams
wrote:

On 2014-09-18 07:45:23 +0000, Roland Perry said:

Discounts don't apply across the board (for example a 'student' card
doesn't give a discount on tube fares). However both contactless and
Oyster are usable on National Rail lines within the TfL area, so why
shouldn't people be able to get a discount if they have an appropriate
railcard?

I'm not saying they shouldn't - I'm just saying that everywhere else
I've looked at such things Railcards are a long-distance product only
and don't apply to local journeys within a joint-tariff area.

The Swiss Halbtax does (at least on ZVV), but I can't think of any
others...

Richard.

On 2014-09-18 20:00:41 +0000, said:

Is that significant for CPCs, though? Everything about them is stored at the
back office.

It might well not be in practice. People are fairly unlikely to hand
their contactless cards around to their mates - they could spend what
they liked if you did - I certainly wouldn't unless it was someone
travelling with me, in which case it would be passed to them at the
barrier and taken back afterwards. Whereas they might well pass
Oysters around, because the amount on it is all that is at risk.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 18/09/2014 21:13, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2014-09-18 20:00:41 +0000, said:

Is that significant for CPCs, though? Everything about them is stored
at the
back office.

It might well not be in practice. People are fairly unlikely to hand
their contactless cards around to their mates - they could spend what
they liked if you did - I certainly wouldn't unless it was someone
travelling with me, in which case it would be passed to them at the
barrier and taken back afterwards. Whereas they might well pass Oysters
around, because the amount on it is all that is at risk.

You might be surprised just how many people do use other people's
payment cards (with the other person's permission - though in clear
contravention of the card issuer's rules). Chip & PIN facilitates this,
what with the lack of requirement for a retailer to check a signature
(and by extension a name).

You might think it unwise and never do it yourself, but other people
operate differently.

On 2014-09-18 20:11:27 +0000, Richard said:

The Swiss Halbtax does (at least on ZVV), but I can't think of any
others...

Yeah, I suppose the Halbtax is a notable exception (it does in Mobilis
Vaud as well, though seemingly not from the TL machines in Lausanne,
only if you buy from an SBB machine) - but then that's to some
extent[1] sold as a national public transport discount card, not just a
Railcard.

In DB-land and SNCF-land you don't get discount on Verbund products, I believe.

[1] VMCV buses in Vevey-Montreux didn't used to accept it prior to the
introduction of the Verbundtarif.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

Spud wrote

On Thu, 18 Sep 2014 05:44:41 -0500 wrote:
wrote:

Some accounts simply don't allow an overdraft - or to go beyond an
agreed
limit, full stop. Perhaps the bank just forwards your details and the
vendor has to recover the money some other way though whether it would
be
worth the effort for a few quid is another matter.

Sounds like a good definition for an unauthorised overdraft to me!

Well not really. The bank doesn't release any money and the account isn't
debited. Its the vendor thats lost out.

If the card was, eg, Visa or MC branded the bank would have to pay up.

If they didn't want to pay they shouldn't have issued it.

OTOH the "online only" cards would have some other branding and, if
contactless, might be at vendor's risk.


--
Mike D

In message , at 22:51:07 on Thu, 18
Sep 2014, Michael R N Dolbear remarked:
Some accounts simply don't allow an overdraft - or to go beyond an
agreed
limit, full stop. Perhaps the bank just forwards your details and the
vendor has to recover the money some other way though whether it
would be
worth the effort for a few quid is another matter.

Sounds like a good definition for an unauthorised overdraft to me!

Well not really. The bank doesn't release any money and the account isn't
debited. Its the vendor thats lost out.

If the card was, eg, Visa or MC branded the bank would have to pay up.

If they didn't want to pay they shouldn't have issued it.

OTOH the "online only" cards would have some other branding and, if
contactless, might be at vendor's risk.

Whether they are online or not, all cards need to be plumbed into the
global merchant services system, so the vendor can ask for payment. Are
there any apart from Visa/MC/Amex and a handful of Far Eastern ones?
--
Roland Perry

On 2014-09-18 21:51:07 +0000, Michael R N Dolbear said:

OTOH the "online only" cards would have some other branding and, if
contactless, might be at vendor's risk.

I really don't understand why Visa Delta and Solo were abolished as
brands - they very clearly stated the differences with this type of
card.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In message , at 09:00:05 on Fri, 19
Sep 2014, Neil Williams remarked:
OTOH the "online only" cards would have some other branding and, if
contactless, might be at vendor's risk.

I really don't understand why Visa Delta and Solo were abolished as
brands - they very clearly stated the differences with this type of
card.

They weren't "online only", but "there stands before you a second class
accountholder"; and of course lots of places didn't accept them if they
couldn't do real-time authorisation (in particular they were no use for
buying railway tickets, which is precisely the sort of transaction their
holders might actually want a card, rather than cash, for).
--
Roland Perry

On 2014-09-19 08:12:59 +0000, Roland Perry said:

They weren't "online only", but "there stands before you a second class
accountholder"; and of course lots of places didn't accept them if they
couldn't do real-time authorisation (in particular they were no use for
buying railway tickets, which is precisely the sort of transaction
their holders might actually want a card, rather than cash, for).

ISTR it was a case of "if you don't do an online authorisation the
transaction is at retailer's risk".

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.