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London Launches World's First Contactless Payment Scheme For Street Performers (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the moving-forward dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Here's a casualty of the cashless society you might not have previously thought of: the humble street performer. After all, if more of us are paying our way with smartphones and contactless cards, how can we give spare change to musicians on the subway? London has one solution: a new scheme that outfits performers with contactless payment terminals. The project was launched this weekend by the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, and is a collaboration with Busk In London (a professional body for buskers) and the Swedish payments firm iZettle (which was bought this month by PayPal for $2.2 billion). A select few performers have been testing iZettle's contactless readers on the streets for the past few weeks, and Khan now says the scheme will be rolled out across London's 32 boroughs.

8 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Let's hope... by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...that some enterprising busker does not put the reader at waist height in a crowded area and gain hundreds of "taps" from unsuspecting passersby.

    1. Re:Let's hope... by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      ...that some enterprising busker does not put the reader at waist height in a crowded area and gain hundreds of "taps" from unsuspecting passersby.

      Which is why I have a NFC jammer in my pocket. It's just a little card that's powered by NFC and just jams the signal by responding. (Basically, in NFC, you send a clock and the card pulses to indicate a 1 or 0. The cards listen as well and if they detect a pulse they didn't send, it means a collision and the card will temporarily disable further responses until inquired again. The card that responds continue to do so unless it detects a collision from a third card. A card that successfully transmits disables itself for further inquiries while still powered).

      So this card continues to send pulses out which prevents all the other cards from responding. NFC readers don't even acknowledge something is happening - they just fail to read anything.

      Attempts to "tap" my wallet result in nothing being read.

  2. Queue the taxman by ddtmm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So their modest income is now trackable by the government, if not now, very soon. It’s only a matter of time until even the oldest profession in the world is monitored by governments for taxes due.

  3. This has been in China for at least 2 years alread by natmsincome.com · · Score: 5, Informative

    It feels weird saying this but street performers in China have had QR codes for both WeChat and Alipay for a while now. It's been around so long it isn't even an a novelty any more.

  4. Re:Hooray! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

    Except this is not the first. WeChat and AliPay can be used to pay street performers, beggars, homeless bums, etc., and unlike this scheme, they don't require an expensive reader. Just a QR sticker that can be printed out for about 2 cents, and placed on the performer's sign.

    Now "Sorry, I don't carry cash" is no excuse.

    You can claim that your cell battery is dead.

  5. Re:Picard: Who the fuck by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    has ever been dumb enough to give money to a street performer?

    I have, many times, and in many cities. If they put on a good show, and make me laugh, I am happy to contribute a few bucks to their livelihood and keep street culture alive.

  6. Re:You've never thrown a coin in a hat? by Bert64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It depends on the performed...
    I don't like being approached and harassed, not only when i walk down the street but also in my own home.
    However most of these street performers don't harass anyone, they sit in one location and perform, you are free to walk around and ignore them, or you can choose to stop and watch. Some of them are good, some of them suck, but it's no different than a bar or shop which has music or video playing in the window.

    If they passively perform and are good i will happily give them money sometimes...
    If they aggressively approach me demanding money, disturbing my day or intentionally blocking my path they will get nothing but a hostile stare from me. This applies not only to buskers, but anyone trying to get something from me either for free or in exchange for something.

    If your goods are on display and i like the look of them and/or ask about them thats great, if you aggressively try to sell to me i'm not interested.

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  7. Re:This is what the Mayor is worried about? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a good lesson to you younger Slashdotters out there: racism makes you stupid.

    Except that "muslim" isn't a race.

    Who's stupid again?