What is the point of Semble?

Forums › Off topic › What is the point of Semble?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

4123 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1338369 7-Jul-2015 11:11

VodafoneDylan: . For example if you wear a hat you could hide a sticker in the brim and pay by ceremoniously tipping your hat to the payment terminal.

Probably more fun in that case, hiding it down the front of your undies :)

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1338418 7-Jul-2015 12:21

Pretty much anywhere that doesn't accept credit cards, won't accept Semble (or any other NFC payment method) either.

Many places have deliberately either disallowed the paywave function, or reverted to terminals that don't support it rather than pay the higher credit card fees.

Understandable when margins are often wafer thin as it is.

Until the system is able to process it with the same fees as a regular EFTPOS transaction, I don't see it catching on much beyond the current level of adoption.

If Semble has circumvented this (I've not seen any documentation saying this) then a) Great, and b) Please point me to it.

@KnightNZ

andrew027

1286 posts

Uber Geek

#1338459 7-Jul-2015 12:50

I like Semble and use it quite a bit for small supermarket puchases, takeaway coffee, McDonald's, etc.

I pretty much always have my wallet with me, but it's usually zipped into a secure compartment of the messenger bag I carry(wear?) so it's much easier to take my phone out of my jacket pocket, hold it on the terminal, and put it away again than it is to open the top flap of the bag, un-zip the inner compartment, grope around inside to find the wallet, open the wallet, pull out the card, wave it over terminal, put the card back in the wallet, put the wallet back in the pocket, zip up the pocket and close the flap on the bag. And sometimes the bag is left locked in the car when I get out (e.g. if I am pumping gas) so it saves me having to remember to open the car and get the wallet and/or bag out in the first place - although, to be fair, that's not a great example because I don't usually use PayWave for gas as there's no way I can fill up for $80 or less!

I also have a loyalty card app on my phone which does away with the second wallet I used to carry for all those extra cards from places like Barkers, FlyBuys, Kathmandu, Supercheap Auto, Whitcoulls, my gym, some coffee shops, etc. As of now this has limited use though, as only about 30% of places seem to have the type of scanner that can read a barcode off a phone screen - they usually have to read the screen and enter the card number manually, which is no better than them having to ask your name or phone to look up your details.

And if you use the Entertainment card but don't have a digital membership, you're missing out. More convenient, and sometimes the staff don't complete the process to redeem the offer so you get to use it again...

Anyhoo, after the free advertisement for using your smartphone for pretty much everything... I noticed the new version of the Semble app downloaded today so I added a Snapper as I use one for the bus or cable car in Wellington, so thought it will be another of the many cards I don't have to carry. But why does it have to create a new Snapper, instead of letting me add my existing Snapper, like I added my existing credit cards?

raytaylor

4017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1338462 7-Jul-2015 12:54

Geektastic: Can anyone explain why it is better than just using the card itself?

- You can go through the drivethru at mcdonalds without needing to stop at window 1, just a slow roll by with your card and the eftpos terminal being held out the respective windows.

- Less wear and tear on your actual card meaning less trips to the evil bank dragon lady

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#1338468 7-Jul-2015 12:59

Semble can't emulate EFTPOS. Why? Because EFTPOS doesn't have a NFC solution.

To me what most refer to by EFTPOS (as in using your cheque/savings) is a moot point anyway - while I have my account on my credit card I'd probably use it around 1 or 2 times per month, at retailers that don't accept credit cards. The hundred or so other transactions I seem to have every month are all on my credit card.

dylanp

840 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1338470 7-Jul-2015 13:02

andrew027: ... I noticed the new version of the Semble app downloaded today so I added a Snapper as I use one for the bus or cable car in Wellington, so thought it will be another of the many cards I don't have to carry. But why does it have to create a new Snapper, instead of letting me add my existing Snapper, like I added my existing credit cards?

I understand it's been designed to issue a new card to your sim instead of making an alias of your card like Semble kind of does for payments. I think I heard you can call Snapper and ask for your balance to be transferred from your real card to the Semble one.

roobarb

653 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1338472 7-Jul-2015 13:06

sbiddle: Semble can't emulate EFTPOS. Why? Because EFTPOS doesn't have a NFC solution.

You would need a very very thin phone with a magstripe on it....

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#1338473 7-Jul-2015 13:09

andrew027: I noticed the new version of the Semble app downloaded today so I added a Snapper as I use one for the bus or cable car in Wellington, so thought it will be another of the many cards I don't have to carry. But why does it have to create a new Snapper, instead of letting me add my existing Snapper, like I added my existing credit cards?

Your balance is held on the snapper card and this allows most of the transactions to be completed off-line.

You can transfer the balance to the semble snapper app if you want to but you can't maintain the balance on two cards at once.

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#1338474 7-Jul-2015 13:11

roobarb:
sbiddle: Semble can't emulate EFTPOS. Why? Because EFTPOS doesn't have a NFC solution.

You would need a very very thin phone with a magstripe on it....

That would be a great feature, it would allow me to use my phone for all payments and leave the physical credit card at home. You'd also need a signature panel on the phone and possibly a hologram

richms

28192 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1338479 7-Jul-2015 13:19

Samsung pay emulates a mag stripe with a coil in the phone.

Snapper having a ballance per phone will be a deal breaker for me. As it is I just pull out whatever phone and know that it will go on my asb visa. That's the s3 note3 or note 4.

Richard rich.ms

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79309 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1338509 7-Jul-2015 13:26

VodafoneDylan:
andrew027: ... I noticed the new version of the Semble app downloaded today so I added a Snapper as I use one for the bus or cable car in Wellington, so thought it will be another of the many cards I don't have to carry. But why does it have to create a new Snapper, instead of letting me add my existing Snapper, like I added my existing credit cards?

I understand it's been designed to issue a new card to your sim instead of making an alias of your card like Semble kind of does for payments. I think I heard you can call Snapper and ask for your balance to be transferred from your real card to the Semble one.

Correct. A new card is issued by Semble. You can then contact Snapper and ask for a token to transfer the balance to this new card. You use the Snapper mobile app to apply the token.

The cards management (add card, remove card, select which card to pay) is made by Semble app. The Snapper card in Semble can be reloaded from the Snapper mobile app. The difference is that instead of reloading into a physical card the app recognises it is a card present on your phone and apply the credit straight away.

SheriffNZ

671 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1338544 7-Jul-2015 14:05

andrew027: I don't usually use PayWave for gas as there's no way I can fill up for $80 or less!

You know, you can still use PayWave when it's over $80 (at least I can with ANZ's roll out). After waving my card, instead of just processing the payment, it asks me for my pin to authorise the transaction. I still find this much quicker than having to insert or swipe my card in the terminal.

Yabanize

2350 posts

Uber Geek

#1338551 7-Jul-2015 14:21

sbiddle: I'm not sure you'll ever see AT HOP on Semble.

The whole concept of needing a public transport card is a backwards one anyway. AT backed by NZTA backed a loser when they went with the Thales solution anyway - NZTA's closed system is exactly what we won't want in this day in age.

In London you can now use your regular credit card (or Apple Pay as of last week) rather than needing an Oyster card which is awesome news as you no longer need to worry about topping up an Oyster card. This is the way of the future, but don't expect to ever see that anytime soon in Auckland, or anywhere that NZTA are involved in a ticketing solution.

Contactless payments are the future of cash. What we're seeing now is only the beginning.

Well, a benefit of them is at least in Christchurch is it includes a few perks that are much better than if you paid with Cash

For example, If you pay with cash you get one free transfer to use within the next 2 hours

If you pay with metrocard you get unlimited free transfers within 2 hours

Metrocard also limits your spend, Once you've spent $5 in a day, the rest of the day is free. Once you've spent $25 in a week, the rest is free. If you paid cash you could end up paying alot more

I'm not sure if this could be done with a regular credit or debit card

Yabanize

2350 posts

Uber Geek

#1338554 7-Jul-2015 14:26

roobarb:
sbiddle: Semble can't emulate EFTPOS. Why? Because EFTPOS doesn't have a NFC solution.

You would need a very very thin phone with a magstripe on it....

Although if you have a Visa Debit card with a chip on it, you can use Eftpos (your check or savings account) by inserting the card (using the chip) and not using the mag stripe

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79309 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1338557 7-Jul-2015 14:30

Going back to the question the OP posted, imagine you're in 1950 and Diners Club send you a credit card. Instead of asking "What is the point of this card, I can't use it anywhere" ask yourself "Where can I shop now to make it easier for myself, seeing this is so handy?"

Change your paradigm...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6