Railroad Forums 

  • Has Amtrak gone cashless?

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1580240  by Railjunkie
 
Mr Norman are you trying to troll me??? LMFAO.

That is were I will leave it. I would like to respond but

A. I was raised to respect my elders.
B. question of such needs no such response
C. If I did, I would likely get put into time out

God bless
 #1580283  by StLouSteve
 
On the Eagle southbound on Saturday, the snack bar attendant had a new type of card reader where the patron inserts the card or taps it him or herself--no longer do you hand the card over. You do confirm the amount of the purchase and are given an opportunity to add a tip. Unfortunately, the device is quite small so the attendant had to tell folks what keys to hit to complete the sale. I suspect this makes reconciliation at the end of a run much easier for the employees.
 #1580289  by NS VIA FAN
 
StLouSteve wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:16 am On the Eagle southbound on Saturday, the snack bar attendant had a new type of card reader where the patron inserts the card or taps it him or herself--no longer do you hand the card over.
Here in Canada.....we've had those Tap devices for years. In restaurants the server brings the device right to the table and you just tap......and they're on the counter in just about every store. I can't remember the last time I actually passed my credit card over to someone. Only on larger amounts.....I think possibly over $500 do you inset your card then enter a pin #.

Since the start of the pandemic....I've gone cashless. Everything is Tap. I've been to the bank ATM a couple of times but the cash in my wallet is usually still there at the end of the week. I do get rolls of 'Loonies' ($1 coins) for tips at the Tim Hortons Drive-Thru when I pick up my morning coffee. (just tap then leave the coin on the window sill!)

Pre-pay for gas is not usually a requirement at the stations in my neck-of-the-woods but I just Tap at the pump anyway. (and stations have conveniently put hand sanitizers on the side of the pumps!)

Pennies were phased out here several years ago. If the total purchase price is say $10.02....it's rounded down and you would pay $10.00. If it's $10.03.....it's rounded up and you'd pay $10.05. (it's the total final price that gets rounded...not each individual item) What a pleasure not dealing with pennies anymore!

VIA Rail has also gone cashless for onboard purchases. In the Corridor and on the Ocean you can use Credit, Debit, Pre-Paid and VIA Gift Cards. On the Canadian and Remote Services.....only Credit Cards are accepted as Debit and Pre-Paid Gift Cards require a wi-fi connection for verification that's not always available.
 #1580354  by daybeers
 
lordsigma12345 wrote: Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:48 pm Hearing from a reliable source that Amtrak is going back to taking cash towards the end of the month.
Heard this from a LD cafe car attendant recently that 9/13 was supposed to be the day but they delayed it two weeks.
 #1580563  by STrRedWolf
 
This morning, my friend from Boston got me hungry for donuts... and I have an actual donut shop here off of the NEC: Carlson's Donuts in Severn, MD. Good donuts, decent coffee, that's it. It makes a fair bit of business and survived for decades.

But what got me thinking was the sign on the front: Cash only.

And that is what makes me wonder -- how many areas are set up where it's not likely to have a Visa or Mastercard backed debit card, but do have an Amtrak station?

Now, you would think Lancaster, PA -- Amish country. But digging through, it's likely that they would have at least a debit card (which would be Visa or Mastercard backed). So I look more west where the only service is the LD trains.

That's the rub. You have communities where it's not practical to use a card -- remember, you have to have a network or cellular connection to dial up and make a transaction, and it takes *ages* on comparison to handing over a $20 dollar bill, get change, and be on your way. The network service just isn't there, or at a state where it's not cheap to do so.

Now having an ATM that accepts cash and spits out a prepaid debit card at the station? Fine, but you still have to communicate "HEY! This guy has $XXX on this card!" relatively soon after they get the card... which gets into the above.

And now you know why I'd love to bury fiber optic line under rail road tracks, because now we have an infrastructure problem preventing us from going completely cashless.
 #1580571  by J.D. Lang
 
I'm all for Amtrak going cashless for food and beverage service. The only problem that I can see is if they don't have a spare card reader on board and the one that they're using malfunctions then everyone is out of luck. Now could that happen with Amtrak equipment. :wink:
 #1580612  by David Benton
 
They will have a "floor limit" of something like $50 per customer , for taking transactions without been able to verify straight away.
soon as they are in range , the transaction is processed .
the machines are generally very reliable , more often its the card that is faulty. Some people (me when working around machinery) become quite static charged , if their cards in the pocket it might not work straight away . same with touch screens.
 #1580631  by David Benton
 
No, but i run a business and know the options available.
Obviously, not everywhere has the best systems (there are fees payable for all levels of security and equipment , i.e contactless pays more to cover extra risk ). But its possible.
 #1580633  by eolesen
 
west point wrote:Ever been a gas station in the mountains that will not take your Cr card because of poor GPS reception ?
Nope. Never once had that issue, and we camp regularly in the west where cell coverage isn't guaranteed.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 #1580685  by Greg Moore
 
west point wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 5:55 pm Ever been a gas station in the mountains that will not take your Cr card because of poor GPS reception ?
Nope, and if I did, I'd wonder what the hell a credit card reader needed GPS for.
 #1580708  by gp80mac
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:32 am

And that is what makes me wonder -- how many areas are set up where it's not likely to have a Visa or Mastercard backed debit card, but do have an Amtrak station?

Now, you would think Lancaster, PA -- Amish country. But digging through, it's likely that they would have at least a debit card (which would be Visa or Mastercard backed). So I look more west where the only service is the LD trains.

Lancaster is a pretty decent sized city in an increasingly urbanized county. Don't worry - credit cards and phones do work there.

I wonder about businesses that only want to deal cash. Sure you avoid the credit card fees and whatever - but how much potential business are you also keeping away? Donuts aren't cheap.

When I went to cons (similar fandom) a few years ago you could still find many "cash only/preferred/discounted" signs. Last one I went to (2 years ago?), those signs were rare if not at all absent. Just about every vendor big and small had a chip reader. I'm sure many preferred cash (and many customers do too, for spousal approval reasons I'm guessing), but the whole "cash is king" mantra seems to be dying off, slowly but surely.
 #1580728  by STrRedWolf
 
Greg Moore wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:08 pm
west point wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 5:55 pm Ever been a gas station in the mountains that will not take your Cr card because of poor GPS reception ?
Nope, and if I did, I'd wonder what the hell a credit card reader needed GPS for.
The only thing I can think of is that somehow it needed the time off of the GPS to mix into the random number generator and properly encrypt the communications between reader/register and the processor's systems. But then, that's a bit overkill when you can get some kid to set the time on it.
gp80mac wrote: When I went to cons (similar fandom) a few years ago you could still find many "cash only/preferred/discounted" signs. Last one I went to (2 years ago?), those signs were rare if not at all absent. Just about every vendor big and small had a chip reader. I'm sure many preferred cash (and many customers do too, for spousal approval reasons I'm guessing), but the whole "cash is king" mantra seems to be dying off, slowly but surely.
1998 you maybe had one or two vendors at conventions with a credit card machine or maybe even a paper recording system for credit cards. Most everyone took cash and over the decades the ATMs would run dry early.

Now, folks are using ether Square (I have one), Paypal, or a dedicated terminal. Some folks would still take cash but they're usually small-time artists who haven't heard about it yet, or someone who just got a table at the last minute because they decided to go at the last minute.
 #1580742  by Railjunkie
 
gp80mac wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:13 pm
STrRedWolf wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:32 am

And that is what makes me wonder -- how many areas are set up where it's not likely to have a Visa or Mastercard backed debit card, but do have an Amtrak station?

Now, you would think Lancaster, PA -- Amish country. But digging through, it's likely that they would have at least a debit card (which would be Visa or Mastercard backed). So I look more west where the only service is the LD trains.

Lancaster is a pretty decent sized city in an increasingly urbanized county. Don't worry - credit cards and phones do work there.

I wonder about businesses that only want to deal cash. Sure you avoid the credit card fees and whatever - but how much potential business are you also keeping away? Donuts aren't cheap.

When I went to cons (similar fandom) a few years ago you could still find many "cash only/preferred/discounted" signs. Last one I went to (2 years ago?), those signs were rare if not at all absent. Just about every vendor big and small had a chip reader. I'm sure many preferred cash (and many customers do too, for spousal approval reasons I'm guessing), but the whole "cash is king" mantra seems to be dying off, slowly but surely.
I deal with a barber and a pizza shop cash only. Pizza joint has been in the same spot for 50 years with the same owner and has added on through the years. The barber has been cutting hair for 10 years has his own shop. Both places are always busy its a known fact if you are going to do business with them you best have cash in your pocket.

As for Amtrak not taking cash. Had a chance to talk to a couple of conductors tonight and they are quite happy that the cafe cars will once again take cash. As they put it one less argument I have to have with the people. Some folks have gotten quite nasty when they found out they couldn't purchase anything to eat or drink because Amtrak wasn't taking cash.