From the Canadian perspective, people can have credit cards (16 digit chip & PIN for Visa/Mastercard, others only 16 digits) and/or bank/interact debit cards (also 16 digit chip&PIN).  The former are able to be used online; debit cards are for in-person transactions with very, very few exceptions.

 

Visa and Mastercard offer prepaid debit cards; however, their purchase fee is typically 10% of the value of the card (a $500 card costs $50) and the currency exchange rates and service charges associated with using a different currency is usually double or triple what banks or Paypal charge.  The *real* cost of Wikimania registration using one of those debit cards would be approximately 40% higher than the face value of what Wikimania was actually charging. 

 

Unless I miss my guess, scholarships are being paid to people via Paypal.  I think that really points to the necessity of accepting at least Paypal as an acceptable alternative payment. 

 

Risker

On 4 June 2014 14:03, Richard Symonds <richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:

Roan,

I don't mean to sound daft, but Chip & PIN cards are (at least here) MasterCard/Visa cards with 16-digit numbers. The two are the same?

The reason people are cautious about giving out bank details is because of things like this: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/clarksons_account_gets_hacked/ ...

Richard Symonds

Wikimedia UK

0207 065 0992

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.

On 4 June 2014 18:58, Roan Kattouw <roan.kattouw@gmail.com> wrote:

On Jun 4, 2014 10:37 AM, "Michael Snow" <wikipedia@frontier.com> wrote:
>
> On 6/4/2014 10:14 AM, Joseph Fox wrote:
>>
>> Pretty sure the difference is that in the US, “debit cards” as we Brits know them are rare.
>
> Not at all, debit cards are a routine feature for checking accounts in the US. But yes, if your debit card has a logo for one of the big payment processors, then most merchants displaying that logo should be able to accept it, even if their transactions use a credit function rather than the debit function.
>

The problem is that in many continental European countries, MasterCard/Visa cards with 16-digit numbers etc are things that most people don't have. Payments are made using chip&PIN cards or bank transfer.

I've always been baffled by how hesitant UK-based individuals and companies are to give me their bank account information (so I can send them money), citing security concerns.

Roan

_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l