No PIN Required

I stopped for a coffee this morning at Pret-a-Manger in Cheshire Oaks with my wife.

She paid for the coffee and cakes by credit card. Interestingly, she didn't have to enter her PIN - apparently transactions under £15 do not require a PIN to be entered at Pret-a-Manger, your card is just plonked into the terminal and the transaction is completed. First time we've had a transaction that didn't require a PIN.

Coffee and cakes were great by the way. Service was fine too. Nearly went to Starbucks but changed our minds after passing a busy Pret.

I've previously talked about the introduction of wave-and-pay cards and whilst todays transaction wasn't exactly that, it does highlight than non-pin card payments are now here!

Coffee On Credit

Starbucks has introduced Britain's first pre-pay coffee credit card.

The Starbucks card allows you pay cash in advance to top-up your card and then you simply pay for your skinny latte with your card at the till. Apparently there are some 100million Starbucks card users in the States.

Coincidentally I plan to frequent the Liverpool Starbucks next week so I'll see if I can grab any details on the card.