What is Twint exactly? Are you using it? Any safe precaution should take?

It's an amusing twist on the word "Twunt", which is a portmanteau of 2 strong Anglo-Saxon expletives

For the hard of hearing or non-native speakers


I use it often.
Precautions: make sure HR aren't in earshot.

Not using it and don't intend to use it in the near future.

I really don't understand the benefit, if any. What does Twint allow me to do that I can't do with my Maestro or credit card (or Samsung Pay/ Apple Pay, for that matter)?

It’s a contactless payment system that many Swiss shops have, but it cannot be used outside Switzerland.

It avoids having to enter a pin and uses a smart phone rather than a card.

However it is limited to transactions under CHF 40 - or it never worked for me above this.

Quite why this is better than a contactless card, I don’t know...

It's because the local cartels don't want apple pay..


But TWuNT is exactly what i was thinking too.

We started using it recently because we got a voucher as a sort of incentive

It's surprisingly useful, from what we've seen. I'm not sure the limit is set as low as CHF 40 as we've been able to pay for stuff at higher costs.

You can also transfer cash to other people's accounts if you need to, which is also has its uses if you owe someone for tickets or a round of drinks. They don't need to be Twint users.

Don't know if we'll continue to use it more than occasionally once the novelty has worn off but so far it seems OK.

No.
I was using paymit sometimes to transfer money from phone to phone.
But then they stamped that into the ground, so...

I am using samsung pay but i must say I am still not very comfortable with paying via mobile due to security concerns. I mean, can somebody just make a remote connection and rob me? probably yes.

Security is my prime concern, too. Why I posted this is because when I tried to book a concert ticket online, Twint was the only payment method which incurs no extra charges.

Get more points at Coop this month :P

If you have a contactless credit card it's kinda useless imho. But it works in places where they don't accept credit cards. I guess it's meant for people that only live with the maestro/postcard and don't have contactless. I find it very annoying that it only works via bluetooth and not NFC.
I would say it's safe, UBS and Postfinance are behind it.

Count me out, then. Bluetooth is the worst drain on my phone's battery. In the time it takes me to fiddle with my phone to switch Bluetooth on and back off again, I may as well fish out my wallet—which I don't even have to open to use my contactless credit card.

UBS... that bastion of security...

I use my credit card (contactless upto 40 CHF) mostly.

But I also use TWINT due to below benifits.

1. When you dont carry your wallet (running or biking) you can still buy just with your phone.
2. You can transfer money quickly to friends. If you link your UBS account, the limit is much higher.
3. You dont need to carry your supercard (coop) to get the points.
4. Some online shops (Galaxus) do not charge a fee if you pay with Twint.
5. It is free (no fee)
6. You can pay even if your phone has no network connection (upto a limit)

TWINT and PAYMIT merged into one recently. I expect more benifits will be added soon.

ftfy

So it's for people who only shop locally and only have friends in Switzerland who ideally all bank with UBS? I guess I pass.

postcard does have a contactless chip.

bluetooth is not safe at the moment. better disable it permanently.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/bluetoo...vices-at-risk/

no need to pair or anything. just enable bluetooth and have your phone taken over.

You made me spill my coffee with that line. Hope you're not serious!
https://events.ccc.de/congress/2006/...Smart_Card.pdf

I mainly use it to send money to friends, etc. I find it easier than log-in to my bank account.

About 5yrs ago, my partner was working as a tester for contactless payment systems and mobile online banking apps with a major International bank. As a result, he refuses to use either.

I suspect it's less costly for the merchant than a credit card transaction. I would not see another reason why Coop, Migros and al would push it so much under one's nose at checkout if there was no money in for them

Now I don't see why I as a consumer I should prefer it to a credit card - in principle the CC should offer me more protection, bonus points, etc.

For personal peer-to-peer transactions there's other systems such as Revolut that are more international...