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Comment by gruez | Hacker News Reader

>I honestly don’t even recall the time when the magnetic strip was needed.

for when you fly over to the US and need to use your card

I'm in the US. The only places I've seen in the last year or so that still use the magnetic stripes are gas stations, and all the ones I usually go to take the chip.

Alternatively, I have never in the US been subject to a situation where if a chip didn't work that the magstrip wasn't allowed.

The holdouts have long been the gas station fuel pumps. Though that is finally changing at least where I am many stations now support chip and tap card payments.

Gas stations around me (Utah) have all replaced their magstripe with a dual magstripe/chip reader. It drives me nuts though, because you still have to insert your card ALL THE WAY IN as if you're using the mag stripe, and then it decides which one to use.

Are gas stations not a big target for skimmers? Why didn't they design it to avoid the magstripe-skimmers? have two inserts or something, I don't care. But now we're a FULL generation of gas station pumps away from being free'd from skimmers. I just don't understand.

Also, don't get me started on the audio/video ads at the pump these days. They're the worst. I'd rather have to pay inside than have "while you're pumping" ads.

In my area (Minneapolis), Costco is the only fuel station I've seen with actual tap to pay (and it handles the Costco membership check as well).

Some BPs have tap here too. I've seen the hardware at a couple of Speedways but it didn't work last I tried.

Speedway should have them now (the ones by me in New Brighton do) as do most KwikTrips.

What I like about the gas station ones, at least where I am, is that they use Zero insertion force contacts instead of brush contacts, so they won’t wear out the connector or your card. You can hear the machine click up and down as it engages.

A lot of pumps with the chip readers also have contactless readers, but the on-screen prompts still just say "insert card". If your chip card is also contactless, you should be able to just hold it in front of the contactless reader and save both time and wear.

Assuming US starts to let people in again.

There's a specific list of countries you can't travel from. Spend 2 weeks in any country not on that list and you're allowed in.

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