Self-serve credit crunch
The process was slower than I had expected it to be, but the real crunch came at the point of making a payment; my credit card signature needed to be assessed by the self-serve assistant. It was apparent after a moment or two of scratching my head and looking about like a idiot, that it was I (rather than the system) that was required to notify an assistant that they were required to complete this transaction. As the assistant was busy attending other customers I had to wait, for what seemed a long time, for my turn. This seemed completely counter-productive.
I have used my credit card in a number of other comparative self-serve systems recently including car park and public transport ticketing machines. In these instances signature validation was not required. Of course, Woollies level of security with signature assessment is a notch above these systems, however, this experience for a first time user will undoubtably put many off from self-serving again.
When you consider how vital credit cards are for self-serve transitional purchasing, surely some revision is required to aid consumer adoption of the service? I would encourage Woollies to consider one of the following:
- Scrap the signature validation completely (consistent with comparative systems), or
- Electronically match/validate the signature.
You know Woolies self-serve EFTPOS units were heavily targeted in the skimming scams earlier this year, right? In cases like this I’d much rather have the option to sign, even if it’s less convenient.
I agree having a pin would negate this issue, however many credit card holders sign each transaction and don’t use a pin. Interested to know if any of our friends from finacial institutions can tell us what percentage of credit card users sign versus use pin? Even if the incidence of signature was 20% (I suspect it is much higher), 1 in 5 users would experience this hurdle.
P.S. Thanks for the alerting us to the submit button, much appreciated, trying to sort that out now!
P.S. – You “Submit comment” button on this form is set to transparent. Not really sure if it is all that usable. Makes it very hard to leave a comment with a hidden submit button
Having a pin on your credit card would solve the issue of the signature all together and speed up the process significantly. I use the self-serve at my Woolies all the time and find it fantastic and quick.