Seems interesting that smartphones are so ubiquitous nowadays that companies are happier to just drop customers that don't have them than adjusting their business strategy. We seem to be moving towards a future where not having a smartphone is just as unthinkable as not having a bank account or electricity.
We seem to be moving towards a future where not having a smartphone is just as unthinkable as not having a bank account or electricity.
When my current smartphone dies, I won't be replacing it with another smartphone. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact that will have on my ability to function in society.
My guess is that it won't be much of an impact beyond a decrease in convenience. Right now, it would only lock me out of using a few parking lots, my apartment building's laundromat, and a smattering of vending machines. I can live with that -- especially because I already do, since I will not install any app for that sort of nonsense.
Just so; in some cases we are already beyond the point where you need to be in some way wealthy or privileged in order to interact with a company beyond the basic automated phone and web-based interface.
Yet every so often I still hear someone (to be fair, not nearly as often as I used to) suggest that poor people (and sometimes refugees) having phones shows that they're undeserving of assistance, since they can clearly afford a phone. As you say, it's becoming the cheapest and in some cases only way to interact with a lot of businesses and services that are necessary simply to operate in society.
Honestly this seems a very "good", manageable business strategy. Cell phone number provides one method of 2FA that is easy (but not necessary secure) to use -- text messages, provides some level of guarantee that the account owner is not a bot, and means that the user is very likely to spend money in phone apps where PayPal is one of the allowed payment methods (e.g. Uber). Companies have little to lose by ignoring users who don't use cell phones.
Eventually we'll reach a point where the police search for you if your phone is off for too long, and ticket you for wasting police time when they find you.
Do you think that international travelers don't have mobile phones? Really?
Same for expats - most immigrants I meet have mobile phones. (I am an immigrant, and meet a fair amount of other immigrants, from various backgrounds, various income levels, and various sorts of jobs). I had to look up to see if the country I'm in even offered residential landline service, honestly.
Not everyone has a smartphone, but that's not what is required. Just a mobile phone that can receive an SMS - and phones have been doing that for 25 years or something.
roaming does not always work, or is expensive. when i travel i get a local number. my previous number doesn't even work here despite having roaming, seemingly due to some incompatibility in the network. if i needed that number to access paypal, i'd be stuck.
Paypal support informed me that I need to use a phone number from the country which I bank in.
There's nothing trustworthy about the people who issued me this current sim card. There's no reason to assume I would want to link it to any account, even if it was allowed. Even if I were inclined to trust this process and if it were possible, I'd have to be using this provider when I am in a 3rd country or in my "home" country.
It is just a nonsensical set of assumptions on PayPal's part.
Comments
Seems interesting that smartphones are so ubiquitous nowadays that companies are happier to just drop customers that don't have them than adjusting their business strategy. We seem to be moving towards a future where not having a smartphone is just as unthinkable as not having a bank account or electricity.
When my current smartphone dies, I won't be replacing it with another smartphone. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact that will have on my ability to function in society.
My guess is that it won't be much of an impact beyond a decrease in convenience. Right now, it would only lock me out of using a few parking lots, my apartment building's laundromat, and a smattering of vending machines. I can live with that -- especially because I already do, since I will not install any app for that sort of nonsense.
Just so; in some cases we are already beyond the point where you need to be in some way wealthy or privileged in order to interact with a company beyond the basic automated phone and web-based interface.
Yet every so often I still hear someone (to be fair, not nearly as often as I used to) suggest that poor people (and sometimes refugees) having phones shows that they're undeserving of assistance, since they can clearly afford a phone. As you say, it's becoming the cheapest and in some cases only way to interact with a lot of businesses and services that are necessary simply to operate in society.
Honestly this seems a very "good", manageable business strategy. Cell phone number provides one method of 2FA that is easy (but not necessary secure) to use -- text messages, provides some level of guarantee that the account owner is not a bot, and means that the user is very likely to spend money in phone apps where PayPal is one of the allowed payment methods (e.g. Uber). Companies have little to lose by ignoring users who don't use cell phones.
Eventually we'll reach a point where the police search for you if your phone is off for too long, and ticket you for wasting police time when they find you.
Sounds like an amazing feature already if it was an opt-in service you could turn on and off when you're going to a place where you expect murderers.
There's plenty of places that are dangerous, which police are known not to go into because wearing a police uniform is an invitation for trouble.
You'd also likely be long dead before anybody investigated your disappearance in this hypothetical scenario.
Imagine thinking that dropping expats and international travelers is a good move though.
Do you think that international travelers don't have mobile phones? Really? Same for expats - most immigrants I meet have mobile phones. (I am an immigrant, and meet a fair amount of other immigrants, from various backgrounds, various income levels, and various sorts of jobs). I had to look up to see if the country I'm in even offered residential landline service, honestly.
Not everyone has a smartphone, but that's not what is required. Just a mobile phone that can receive an SMS - and phones have been doing that for 25 years or something.
roaming does not always work, or is expensive. when i travel i get a local number. my previous number doesn't even work here despite having roaming, seemingly due to some incompatibility in the network. if i needed that number to access paypal, i'd be stuck.
Paypal support informed me that I need to use a phone number from the country which I bank in.
There's nothing trustworthy about the people who issued me this current sim card. There's no reason to assume I would want to link it to any account, even if it was allowed. Even if I were inclined to trust this process and if it were possible, I'd have to be using this provider when I am in a 3rd country or in my "home" country.
It is just a nonsensical set of assumptions on PayPal's part.
why imagine? Many banks worldwide currently simply don't allow Americans to open an account with them.