[josephg]

I had no idea if the magnetic stripe on my (australian) credit card worked until a recent trip to the USA. I’ve had that card for years and I don’t think I’ve ever swiped it before. Australian POS terminals won’t let you use the magnetic strip on a card when chip & pin is available. Even inserting your card seems old fashioned now - PayPass (contactless payment) is by far the most common way to pay in australia.

Each year there seems to be fewer reasons to carry a wallet around. Cash? Killed by covid. Card? Apple Pay. Drivers licence? There’s an app for that. It won’t be long before wallets are entirely useless.

[HWR_14]

I'm far more likely to have my wallet on me than my phone. Credit cards have infinite battery life, 100% waterproofing, no real-time tracking/spying and low to no cost to lose. Cash trades out the low cost to lose for anonymity.

[kevin_thibedeau]

> no real-time tracking/spying

You'll want a Faraday cage for any contactless cards.

[HWR_14]

Yes. They sell wallets with Faraday cages. I have been so far able to push off contactless cards, so I just assumed that other people who care about avoiding realtime tracking also insist on chip only.

[msh]

I think you are in the minority here.