No bank cards?

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I went to buy my T pass for June before getting on the train today. I tapped my card, selected the monthly pass option, and then tapped "Debit" for payment and inserted my card.

The machine gave me an error and told me it was not accepting bank cards.

My TD card is a debit card, and I've been buying my T passes with it for years. Does anyone know what's going on?

Comments

[fe.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the machine errors out for no reason. I generally try it twice before moving over to a new machine and trying again. The machine will definitely error out bank cards if you accidentally skip the confirmation screen after selecting 'debit.'

Then again, I haven't tried this for June yet.

Did you try the machine next to you?

[tehlunchbox.livejournal.com]

It's just a machine, sometimes they suck. Sometimes, my card won't work on one machine, but it works on the one next door. Worst case, go to Harvard SQ or Alewife (or any number of other places and have done by a person.

Re: Did you try the machine next to you?

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I did not try that. If it happens again, I'll try another machine. Thanks!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I hope it was just a wonky machine. I only use debit cards, and I'd be in trouble if they're no longer accepting them (which would be ridiculous).

[in-water-writ.livejournal.com]

Does your debit card have the logo of a major credit card company on it as well? If so, you should be able to have the machine treat it as a credit card, but have it charged to your bank account the way it normally would be if you had chosen debit. I thought all major banks did that on debit cards automatically these days.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Mine has the MasterCard logo on it, yes. I use it onine all the time. It has always worked when buying Link Passes for the T.

[in-water-writ.livejournal.com]

Did you try doing the purchase as credit instead of debit? I don't know why the machines can't accept bankcards sometimes but can accept credit, but if the machine's not taking bankcards but doesn't say anything about credit cards and you're in a hurry, just doing the purchase as credit should work.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

There is only one machine in the Davis T which will reliably take my credit card, and I can never remember which one it is. On that machine, the card slides smoothly in while on the others, the embossed account number chatters in the slot. If one machine doesn't work with your card, keep trying as there is one of these things which is definitely not like the others.

[http://users.livejournal.com/deviant_/]

The T bought low-quality machines that are incredibly unreliable. As usual.

[smammy]

It might have more to do with a failure to maintain them.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

These machines have had trouble reading credit/debit magstripes from the beginning.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

I imagine it's a little of both.

[tastyanagram.livejournal.com]

On some of the machines you have to use the "credit card" option even though it offers a debit option, even if you're using a debit card. I had this problem myself and a T worker straightened me out.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

I've run into this as well.

[justjess.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. I always select "credit" now just in case.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

If the machine has trouble reading the magstripe on your card, which they often do, it gives the terribly misleading error, "Bank card type not valid for MBTA purchase."

You should try a different machine.

[slomotionwalter.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, the entire system loses the ability to take debit and credit cards. Fortunately, it only seems to happen around the end and beginning of the months, when no one needs them...

I registered my card at mbta.com and then added an automatic payment plan thing on the site. That never fails, even when the machines and network do. As long as I have enough money in my account to cover the pass, I never have to worry about something breaking or forgetting to buy the pass.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I should look into that. My previous job gave us those as a benefit, and I never needed to even think about it.

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

A T worker told me that all the machines refused credit cards on the last day of every month. That was several months ago; I would hope it had been fixed by now.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, this has been the policy since the machines were originally installed, and continues to be the policy.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

This happens to me a lot. THE SECRET: run your thumb over the magnetic strip of the card before you stick it in the machine. 60% of the time, it works every time.

Don't you just "tap" on the pad?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I mean, with these machines you don't "stick it in". I don't even think you need actual contact between the card and the pad.

Re: Don't you just "tap" on the pad?

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

You tap the Charlie Card, but you put your credit/debit card in a slot.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

I remember one time at a grocery sotre where the card readers were acting up, they had me put the thin plastic shopping bag over the card and slide it through, for some reason that helped.

Don't know why some machines would take debit but not others. If it was from an out-of-town bank and it worked on credit but not PIN debit, I'd guess it wasn't on the same payment network, ie. those Maestro and Cirrus logos on the back of your debit card.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Ok, there's (at least) 3 different problems with using credit/debit cards at T machines:

1. The network or server sometimes gets overloaded at the end of the month
2. Some machines have trouble reading magstripes, and display the misleading error "Bank card type not valid for MBTA purchase."
3. Some machines have broken pin pads. This problem only affects debit pin transactions, so doing a credit transaction on your debit card is a workaround.

[annielovesyou.livejournal.com]

I always have issues with them accepting credit or debit cards, and just move to the next as well. For reference though, I purchased my June pass with my debit on Thursday with no issues.

[elements.livejournal.com]

I have never been able to add value with my debit card, which is a Wainwright with a Visa logo, either as debit or as credit. I always get errors. I just gave up and make sure to grab an extra 20 at the ATM before I know I'll need to load up.