Old Fashioned Credit Cards

Okay my Visa card is dieing. The magnetic strip on the back is worn out. Oddly enough it works at 50% of the places, and 50% of them is doesn't. Whats the difference in the machines, that causes some to read them and some to not? What I hate is that dumb look on the cashiers face when it doesn't work. They give you that look, like your a poor person trying to rob the place. I'm like look lady, I've got money on the card, its just worn out. Then you get the lovely attitude from the people behind you, as they grow impatient.

But the most interesting thing I've discovered with a restarted credit card is that, some of the establishments refuse to manually enter the card. I'm like what? Your telling me if it doesn't swipe, you can't punch in the little digits? It wasn't all that long ago, most businesses had carbon copies and a hand imprinter, what the hell happened to these.

I used to work for a credit card processing company, and understand there is a slightly higher cost per transaction for hand punched cards, but you would think most businesses would prefer to lose 10 cents compared to a 30 or 40 dollar transaction? Right. I guess not.

Needless to say, I've called the bank, and a new card is on the way. As an emergency I've been carrying my keyring with my Exxon Easy Pass RFI Key Fob for gas. Its much nicer the using the credit card, since there is no magnetic strip to wear out, and I don't even have to sign a slip.