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back to article PayPal drops into McDonalds, begs meat-guzzlers to give it a bonk

Thirty McDonalds outlets* in France will be accepting PayPal, using the eBay-owned processor's mobile client, as companies race to become the default mobile payment platform whether customers want it or not. The deployment is only a trial, and Reuters notes that (in common with McDonalds branches around Europe) the sites are …

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  1. FunkyEric
    Pint

    Well perhaps

    If the bank made my debit card bonkable I'd use it, but I'm hardly likely to use a credit card to buy a newspaper.

    Oh and anyway I quite like cash, it's easier to keep track of rather than the virtual black hole of my overdraft.

    Bonking for beer? Sounds like a dangerous idea!

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I paid for a McDonalds by phone bonk

    near Birmingham a few weeks ago. The staff looked at me like it was magic. What they didn't realise is I have an NFC card stuck inside[1] the phone case, courtesy of Barclaycard.

    [1]Not really sure why anyone[2] would stick the card on the outside and make their phone even more attractive to thieves.

    [2]Apart from the usual "look at me" crowd.

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  3. Mike Minh

    Freeze the burger (account)

    Lovely, can't wait for the account of such burger outlet be frozen for 120 days without any explanation by PlayBall, just because one out of hundreds of transactions was linked to a foreign name with, let say, umlauts in it.

    "Frozen burgers chained" and many other semi-funny headlines jump to mind.

    And Square which is just swipe instead of Chip & Pin. Why did we introduce Chip & Pin when we give up its security on a whim? Back to the drawing board, me thinks.

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  4. Pedigree-Pete
    Thumb Down

    I got my pay-by-bonk sticker 2 weeks ago. I'm still trying to work out why I'd want to stick it on my phone (inside or out). Pay by wandering too close to a bonking till. BONKERS!

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      fail

      1) The "n" in nfc really means that. We're talking millmetres here.

      2) The reader has to be in a "ready to bonk" mode.

      reasons why you might want to pay by bonk

      3) you are lightly dressed and don't want to carry a wallet AND phone

      4) you like the thought of sending the kids to pay without giving them any cash.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: fail

        When bonking I am generally lightly dressed

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        1. Andus McCoatover
          Reply Icon
          Joke

          Re: fail

          Lightly dressed? My Girlie only wears high heels. According to some 'advice' we received on some videos recently, that's the only way to 'bonk'.

          Isn't it?

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      2. Charles 9
        Reply Icon

        Re: fail

        fail on fail.

        Stickers can't be made "ready to bonk" and are, like NFC cards, always ready. Plus there's the issue of e-pickpockets who can use higher-powered radio gear to lift your bonk details from a distance. And anything the terminals can do, a criminal will attempt to redo, including challenge-response systems. That's why the newest bonkable passports have metal in their covers. Say hello to the tinfoil wallet?

        As for being lightly dressed, people that lightly dressed are probably wearing pocketless clothes, meaning they're actually more likely to be carrying NEITHER while their importance in emergencies tends to mean if they have room for one in a purse or pocket, they'll be bringing BOTH.

        Not to mention bonk cards seem to be a bit fragile. I've had two stop bonking on me. Apparently, the wear and tear of life in my wallet has broken both their antennae.

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    2. MrXavia
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      You'd be lucky if it worked! so far neither of my NFC cards actually have worked, its faster to use chip n pin as that always works!!!!

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They beat you up for using high-tech witchcraft in a French McDonalds, don't they?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/18/mcdonalds_computer_vision_spectacles_attack/

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  6. cs94njw
    Go

    NFC was one of the big reasons why I went for the Galaxy S3.

    I'm sitting here tapping my feet, wondering when the hell someone's going to support it!

    Also, what happened the Olympic trial of NFC with the S3?

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    1. Thomas 4
      Reply Icon

      Likewise

      I got a Blackberry 9360 on the weekend with NFC in it but not the foggiest idea how to set the bugger up.

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    2. Andrew 66
      Reply Icon

      The Olympic trial with the S3 consisted of issuing Galaxy S3's to officials, athletes and teams and letting them use it, it wasn't a public trial...more a "look at what we might do if we can agree how to do it" thing...

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    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      "Also, what happened the Olympic trial of NFC with the S3?"

      Given that the day I went to a Olympic football match there was one card payment till out of the 10 tills at the foot outlet in our area of the stand and the chip reader wasn't working on that so card numbers had to be typed in manually before customers were given a slip to sign then I'd say its fairly safe to assume that any Olympic trial hadn't reached the Millenium stadium!

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  7. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    I want to bonk you...

    ....but, but officer, I was only trying to pay!

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Phones with NFC ?

    Reading the comments by the S3 owner did make me wonder ...

    Thanks to Barclaycards stick on card, my phone is effectively NFC enabled. Why would I want to pay any more for a phone intrinsically able to NFC ? Especially as I already have a Barclaycard account.

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    1. Wize
      Reply Icon

      Re: Phones with NFC ?

      Because your phone can receive as well as send via NFC. Check back in the Registers recent archives and you'll find an NFC keyboard.

      Still, I can't see myself getting one. Just seems so easy to read from outside your pocket.

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      1. Andrew 66
        Reply Icon

        Re: Phones with NFC ?

        If you're really that worried, just keep the chip from an oyster card nearby...or have contactless in both your debit and credit cards...two cards can't be read at once...

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    2. Boring Bob
      Reply Icon

      Re: Phones with NFC ?

      Other (future) applications perhaps?

      Today the "killer" application is payment but there are God knows how many other possible applications out there. The important letter in NFC is the N, if you can thing of an application that transmits data or performs an action simply by touching another object with your telephone you have a potential NFC application.

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  9. Will 20
    Mushroom

    I want NFC to have nothing to do with my bank account.

    Call me paranoid, but yes, I am.

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  10. Andrew 66

    It would help...

    ...if the imbeciles who are put on tills in the shops that have the technology to accept Contactless payment actually knew that they should be accepting it!

    On SO many occasions I've had to wind up telling the cashier how to use their own card handling machines, just because management can't be bothered :(

    I HATE cash - it's annoying to carry, annoying to count, way too easy to lose and totally open to theft. Thankfully, adoption of Contactless is slowly increasing - from what I've seen more people are using it, more people want it (judging by the number of people who've asked how to get it when they've seen me use it) and the terminals are popping up everywhere.

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    1. Stu_The_Jock
      Reply Icon

      Re: It would help...

      I'd like a choice. When passing through Heathrow last week, I stuck my card in as usual for chip-n-pin, to find the machine kept tellingthe assistant to "Ask customer to present their card" NO indication it meand NFC or contactless or anything, In the end "I" spotted the NFC logo on the reader and tried it, "bing" payment taken with no PIN, which personally I don't like. At the least it should be the customer sets the floor limit at which a PIN is required, after all it's our money. Banks tell us it's to save time in store, but chip and PIN takes me 3 or 4 secs, total, so I don't see how much they think I "NEED" to save 4 secs per transaction, having waited 4 mins to get to a cashier.

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  11. N2

    I actually like cash

    Since David Gauke made the statement that using cash is morally repugnant Ive made a point of using cash a lot more. NFC, contact less technology or trusting a mobile phone with my bank account is simply not on the agenda.

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  12. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Like pay-2-pass?

    We have this on mastercard, you simply tap the card on the pump, fill up with $100 of petrol and drive away.

    But inside the supermarket you simply tap the card and then have to sign the receipt because you didn't enter a pin !

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  13. AndrueC Silver badge
    Joke

    >in exchange for burger meat

    McDonalds are using meat in their products now?

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  14. MJI Silver badge

    McDonalds

    Popular not because they are good, but because you know what you will get.

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  15. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    Yet, HRMC...

    ..God bless 'em, sends a cheque for 30 quid to Finland, 'cos they couldn't handle electronic transfer...

    (Finally convinced them they could, after I asked how to refund underpayment, when we don't use cheques anymore here..."You have to use elec....Ah...")

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  16. Bad Beaver
    FAIL

    App needed?

    If I need a store-specific app on my phone for this to work then they can take it and shove it.

    On the bright side, I just got me a nice little NFC accessory to go with my Nokia N9. That first bonk-to-pair gives you a very pleasing "21st century moment". Pleased as punch.

    So YAY! for NFC and BOO for apps.

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  17. Daniel Hill

    Buses?

    Bus travel seems an obvious application for NFC Payment (as opposed to Oyster and similar).

    I made the mistake of travelling by bus in Cardiff yesterday. None of my smartcards/passes/etc for London were valid, so I had no choice but to pay cash. Exact fare only, and a nice round number of £1.70/trip.

    End result is that the bus gets delayed while I ferret around in my wallet to find the change.

    Would've been so much easier if I could've tapped my S3 on a reader and had it deduct the fare from Paypal/Google Wallet/Bank account whatever!

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    1. P. Lee
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      Re: Buses?

      Hah! Don't whinge!

      Try visiting Melbourne (Oz) and getting on a train. You'll need a ticket which has a minimum purchase requirement of 7 days travel at over $60.

      That's right. You can't buy a ticket for a single journey, or even a single day.

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  18. Steven Burn

    Bah

    Given most outlets still don't even encrypt chip and pin transactions, I shudder to think how long it'll be before these new "options" are in the news for anything other than publicizing them.

    Use my debit card for things, but still prefer cash.

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  19. Steven Burn

    Forgot ....

    Forgot to mention, all of this is before we point out that there's already a slew of malware affecting smart phones, it stands to reason they're going to target these new payment methods in the near future (payment interception anyone?).

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  20. Magani
    FAIL

    Ah, buying plastic food with money from a pretend bank.

    Reality has left the building...

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  21. Tony Rogers
    Boffin

    The Tardiness of Commercial Life

    These constant references to paying for things is as tiring as it is bewildering.

    One should make the most of ones butler or personal assistant.

    With the number of unemployed ( even in the Colonies ) it should be a simple task

    to employ a menial of some sort to undertake these commercial tasks.

    A gentleman's time is far too precious for dalliance with trades people.

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  22. Tom Richardson
    FAIL

    Somewhat disingenuous....

    Pay by bonk *phones* may be available in the UK but there aren't any services you can use them with! That might explain the so called "lack of interest".

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