Alaric wrote:UncleEbenezer wrote:Though perhaps cards as we know them today (with no builtin connection) might become obsolete first.
Mobile phones can scan cards using the built in camera, so laptops and PCs with webcams presumably could as well. You can use your phone as a scanner to pay when remotely ordering in a Wetherspoons although keying in the card number is on balance easier and quicker.
Most mobile phones have near-field communications capability and with a suitable app, e.g. Credit Card Reader NFC, will read the public data on a contactless debit/credit card simply by holding the card against the back of the phone.
(If you install any similar app make sure it doesn't require internet or any other communications permissions! The above one doesn't. I use it to check that I have properly nobbled any contactless cards I'm sent. )