The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.
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9:13am on Sunday, 21st December, 2025:
Anecdote
Oh, I meant to post this earlier.
When I was in ASDA a few days ago, buying ricotta cheese for my wife's ricotta cheese confection, I picked up some other items as well. I think I ran eight objects in all through the till.
When it came to paying, I reached confidently into my jacket pocket and ... no wallet. It didn't occur to me that it had been stolen, because it hadn't been: I knew exactly what had happened. When I'd gone to the Co-Op to buy the ricotta cheese, it had been cold so I'd put on my coat. I'd put my wallet in that coar. After I got home, I transferred the wallet back to my jacket, so so I thought, but actually I'd transferred it to the other pocket of my coat (they hang next to each other in the hallway).
So, there I was in ASDA with eight items of shopping and a till that kept asking if I wanted to continue.
Now, a good many people these days pay using their phone's near-field communication system. I heard about this when it came out, but avoided it because the security wasn't good. It's since improved, but I never got around to installing it on my phone.
There, in the automatic till section of ASDA, I downloaded Google Pay, installed it, ran it, entered my card details (conveniently remembered by my phone), entered my card verification value (conveniently remembered by my memory), rushed through the tutorial and paid what the till was asking.
I was astonished that this actually worked.
I'll still use my card to pay, because I have to get my wallet out for loyalty cards anyway (no, supermarkets, I don't want your stupid app on my device, thank you). Besides, my phone is more likely to be stolen than my wallet, so I wouldn't want to rely on it.
My wife doesn't like relying on hers, either, but she keeps her payment cards in the cover of her phone so is still stuffed if she loses either.
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Copyright © 2025 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).