Dear LPG,

I have a story for you today which I hope will again illustrate one of the ways that modern inventions designed to make life easier for the young but which can have a seriously adverse effect on all of us.

On the day in question I was in more than a bit of a hurry and as I left the house I grabbed my bank card, phone and keys in the secure knowledge that I had all I needed to get to where I was going.    I was late and, then to make things worse, as I opened the door to my car, I realised that I had forgotten to put sufficient petrol in it.   My local petrol station is only round the corner and I got there as quickly as I could, did the self-service thing and then left the car locked in preparation to join the queue so that I could pay for the petrol.

The good Lord must have been smiling on me at that point because there was no one in the queue and so I went straight to the checkout booth with my bank card and loyalty card ready for action.  I shared a few pleasantries with the staff member before informing him that I wanted to pay for the petrol from dispenser number eight and then, as you do, I aimed my card for slot in the payment terminal only to find that there was a card balanced on top of it. 

I remember making some remark as I motioned to remove the card so that I could give it to the man behind the counter, so that I could pay for my petrol with my card, and that is when it happened…

Pulling the card away from its resting place resulted in a little ‘peep’ sound and I knew that my petrol had been paid for by that card.

I felt awful but the man behind the counter soon pointed out the owner of the forgotten card, who was just about to drive away, I am so glad that I knew the man behind the counter because I think that if I didn’t my next reaction would be good cause to accuse me of theft.   I fled (as fast as I can these days) and started shouting at the men in the car.  Perhaps he did not hear me or perhaps he thought I was a lunatic (looking back I would have…), but he did ignore me and continued driving.  I then did something that I have only ever seen in films before; I put myself in front of his moving car and luckily he did stop (to be fair he was not traveling that fast).

Then there was the whole time consuming business of sorting out how I was going to pay him back so ultimately I was later than ever in the end.  

I think that the story is a reminder of just how dangerous the contactless bank cards can be.  I make a point of making sure that I do not take up this option.  I know that there are some banks that still offer non contactless cards and I strongly recommend that when cards come up for renewal we continue to opt for the pin number option.

FM, Bromley

LPG found some information that might help readers who would rather not have a contactless bank card…

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