NEVER underestimate the skills of scammers:
snopes.com: Skimming with ATM Cameras
There are some very smart crooks out there.
This is a new payment mechanism, and it's rightly so that people are concerned about the vulnerabilities and learning how to protect against theft.
I look forward to learning more about it myself, and seeing if it's a technology I can trust.
The stock market crash of 1929, the savings and loan debacle in the 80's, the crash of the technology sector, the real-estate crash, every large scale problem with the stock market since the beginning of the stock market, fools buying stock on margin back in the day, the Daffodil incident, the Bernie Madoffs and variants, every major financial problem we have suffered through, every site that has every been hacked where credit info is stolen, widespread fraud that cost thousands of people millions, every company that looses CC info that first boasts about their security and later apologizes for what they say will never happen does indeed happen, and Justin Bieber all have one thing in common: we are told that we are protected after it happens and it won't happen again because we changed the law and are now protected.
But it does happen, again and again and we are told it will never happen again, until it does.
I think the system just introduced will be safe for most users. That said, you should ask yourself if it does happen, can you quickly recover?
I use Visa and Am-Ex gift cards on-line and I max them out in one or two quick transactions. In my view, this is sensible because it further protects me from what I know can happen. I simply assume it can happen so I avoid it. I will never use a CC or debit card on-line.
I already see the headlines in my head and I hear the apologies from those in charge of Google Wallet.
Bob you are so jaded, lighten up.
Bob