Quote from: DannyHamilton on October 01, 2013, 07:11:07 PM

Quote from: davidgdg on October 01, 2013, 07:05:48 PM

Indeed. It is one thing to use a debit or credit card where the bank takes most of the fraud risk. It would be another thing to use some sort of bitcoin card where the person who ends up paying or sorting out the mess if it goes wrong is me.

Essentially what is being suggested is a scenario where you tell each and every merchant that you do business with where you've stored a big box filled with cash. You continuously add cash to this box as needed. The merchants then go to your box of cash and remove the amount that you've asked them to remove for payment of whatever you are purchasing. You agree not to move the box at all, and you trust (hope?) that the merchant will never use their knowledge of the location of the box to go take additional cash that you haven't authorized no matter how desperate they become.

And this is being offered as equivalent to the current credit/debit card security.

You can see how when you think about bitcoin as a currency instead of a payment network, some of the concepts start to fall apart.

I fail to see your point.

Why is the technology used for debit transaction using encrypted PINs, NOT good enough for Bitcoin?

It's been used on a scale at least 1,000 X larger than Bitcoin, and has succeeded. Why reinvent the wheel?

A network is only going to be as secure as the users using it.

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You aren't paying attention.

No, you aren't. Just because you were covered on your theft, it is not the rule.

"A major factor in consumer protection is the card companys liability policies. Federal law limits consumer liability for unauthorized debit payments to $50, if the consumer reports the fraud within two business days (the cap goes up to $500 if the report is not timely [2 days!]). This means that the consumer has to pay $50-500 dollars before the card company will cover the rest. Major card companies like Visa and MasterCard have zero liability for unauthorized transactions, meaning that if the consumer meets the requirements, they dont have to pay anything and are reimbursed.

However, this zero liability only applies to signed transactions. Every company seems to have their own policy when it comes to PIN-based transactions. MasterCard does not extend zero liability protection to PIN purchases, while other financial institutions do. For this reason, its important to check the policy on your debit account. Check the back of your card to find out which networks handle your transactions (ex: the Star network), and then call your bank to find out if you qualify for more than just basic federal protections."

Read this: http://banking.about.com/od/checkingaccounts/a/stolendebitcard.htm

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I give up.

If you want to create such a device, go ahead.

If you want to use such a device, go ahead.

I'm sure you will find others who think the way you do.

The effort will succeed or fail on its own merits. (I'd be betting on fail).

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, me thinks. Tongue