Are you not replying to my main point (most merchants are honest therefore chargebacks are rarely needed) because you agree with it?
> That may be a problem with the current implementation, but it doesn't have to be
I agree. But I highlighted this to show you that credit cards have kinks, as currently implemented, yet are reasonably successful/useful. Therefore for the same reason Bitcoin doesn't have to be perfect to be reasonably successful/useful.
> The only reason this isn't a problem for Bitcoin is that you can't set up bill payments in Bitcoin at all.
Yes it is possible. Some hosted wallets let you set up recurring payments. This is awesome because unlike credit cards, you don't have to give the merchant authorization to debit your money, but you give this authorization only to the wallet hoster. This gives the merchant zero chances to screw you up (eg. continuing to debit your card when you want it to stop, or setting up a recurring payment disclosed in the fine print when you think you are authorizing a one-time payment.)
> It works for a restaurant but that's a very special case
This scenario covers literally ALL in-person transactions. Hardly a "very special case".
> But the kind of person who gets their credit card PIN stolen (which is what we were comparing to) isn't going to have a well-protected private key.
No we were comparing typical users. A security conscious credit card user can STILL get his number stolen and money stolen (eg. a merchant gets hacked). Whereas a security conscious Bitcoin user using a hardware wallet is virtually impervious to being attacked (only highly sophisticated hacks like stealing the hardware wallet and decaping the secure chip to steal the private keys without knowing the PIN).
Some users are so bad with security and detecting scams that they will always get their money stolen (regardless if they use credit cards or bitcoins).
> Are you not replying to my main point (most merchants are honest therefore chargebacks are rarely needed) because you agree with it?
I think there's an at-the-margin effect here. The threat of chargebacks makes actual chargebacks usually unnecessary. Just like having an army can be very valuable even if you only go to war rarely.
> Yes it is possible. Some hosted wallets let you set up recurring payments. This is awesome because unlike credit cards, you don't have to give the merchant authorization to debit your money, but you give this authorization only to the wallet hoster.
With a bank account you can do this as a "standing order". It's safer than most of the bill-payment methods. And surprisingly useless, because most of the time you want to pay a bill that can vary, so you need to give the merchant authorization to tell them how much you need to pay them.
> setting up a recurring payment disclosed in the fine print when you think you are authorizing a one-time payment.
Something you can only stop by making setting up payments less convenient. If bitcoin takes off, it will need a system for seamlessly setting up recurring payments from a website that wants to - and the exact same scams will apply.
> This scenario covers literally ALL in-person transactions. Hardly a "very special case".
No, it only covers cases where you pay after using the thing you bought. If I buy a TV with a credit card, take it home, plug it in and find out it doesn't work, I can if need be make a chargeback; with bitcoin I'm stuffed.
> No we were comparing typical users. A security conscious credit card user can STILL get his number stolen and money stolen (eg. a merchant gets hacked).
If they're security-conscious enough to not get their PIN stolen, then they can't lose any money.
> That may be a problem with the current implementation, but it doesn't have to be
I agree. But I highlighted this to show you that credit cards have kinks, as currently implemented, yet are reasonably successful/useful. Therefore for the same reason Bitcoin doesn't have to be perfect to be reasonably successful/useful.
> The only reason this isn't a problem for Bitcoin is that you can't set up bill payments in Bitcoin at all.
Yes it is possible. Some hosted wallets let you set up recurring payments. This is awesome because unlike credit cards, you don't have to give the merchant authorization to debit your money, but you give this authorization only to the wallet hoster. This gives the merchant zero chances to screw you up (eg. continuing to debit your card when you want it to stop, or setting up a recurring payment disclosed in the fine print when you think you are authorizing a one-time payment.)
> It works for a restaurant but that's a very special case
This scenario covers literally ALL in-person transactions. Hardly a "very special case".
> But the kind of person who gets their credit card PIN stolen (which is what we were comparing to) isn't going to have a well-protected private key.
No we were comparing typical users. A security conscious credit card user can STILL get his number stolen and money stolen (eg. a merchant gets hacked). Whereas a security conscious Bitcoin user using a hardware wallet is virtually impervious to being attacked (only highly sophisticated hacks like stealing the hardware wallet and decaping the secure chip to steal the private keys without knowing the PIN).
Some users are so bad with security and detecting scams that they will always get their money stolen (regardless if they use credit cards or bitcoins).