Maybe, but on the other hand, most people don't keep $250 in their wallets. Having an extra verification mechanism for expensive purchases seems appropriate.
Also before this technology, people kept credit cards in their wallet, which suffered the same fate from house hooligans. And before credit, people did keep $250 in their wallet.
I guess the credit card part is true; around here most people have debit cards with PINs, and which can't be used remotely, so it's unlikely a six-year-old could use it without their parent's consent. Then again, around here those parents would have the legal right to return all those purchases.