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Comment by unglaublich | Hacker News Reader

My bank has this feature where the same card has two PIN codes. The PINs are coupled to different bank-accounts, the PIN determining which account will be charged. So groceries I pay with 111222, coffee-to-go with 333111... My bank does the rest. All easily analysable and exportable.

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I've never heard of that being an option at any bank. Who are you with? Sounds really useful.

What do you do if PIN pads are disabled due to COVID concerns and customers are only permitted to make contactless payments?

Have you actually seen disabled PIN pads? I have seen places refusing cash (which I believe is illegal), but the PIN pads are easily wiped down between uses.

Federally, assuming you are speaking of the US, a business refusing to take cash for goods/services is not illegal, as you are not paying a debt:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

Business owners should note that state and local laws can and do vary on this topic!

https://blogs.findlaw.com/free_enterprise/2019/08/is-it-lega...

Yes, in Poland I have seen a few shops where the clerk and the PIN pad are behind a sealed glass barrier and there is no way to hand the PIN pad over to the customer. The clerk holds the card reader up to one side of the glass, you hold your card up to the other side, and the contactless transaction manages to reach across the glass.

Also, refusing cash is perfectly legal -- and increasingly common -- in a number of countries.

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