Tag Archives | credit card

It’s 2017 and The General Security Just Started Accepting Debit/Credit Cards

By Rami on August 25, 2017 in Government

Although the General Security is probably the only governmental institution that you feel is actually efficient with its smooth operations, but no one can deny that fee payment there can really be irritating sometimes.

You probably have been through it too, each time I renewed my passport I had to bring that exact renewal fees in Lebanese Lira in addition to -god knows why- a photocopy of the bills! And yes, carrying dollars instead is guaranteed to delay your application a bit until you go exchange the money… but it seems like those days are long gone.

I was on my way to work this morning when I noticed several billboards announcing that the General Security has just started accepting payment cards to settle application fees. I know it may sound silly to some but it’s definitely a life saver for others, especially those who do not have the luxury to spend an extended time to submit a simple application form.

And now that this governmental institution seems to have caught up with “modern” payment methods, let’s hope for others such as municipalities or Electricité du Liban (HA HA HA!) to follow suit and hopefully even offer online payments. It’s 2017 for god’s sake!!

P.S: I couldn’t find any online article about this new service except for this post on Blom Bank’s FB page announcing their partnership with the General Security to make it happen.

Al Joumhouria Publishes the Darndest Articles

By Rami on January 16, 2016 in What the fuck!

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A Lebanese lady who had her credit card information stolen and used to make several transactions reported the incident to some journalist in Al Joumhouria last week. And unfortunately for us, the latter decided to take matters in her own hands to investigate the issue and came up with some really messed up conclusions.

According to the journalist, it seems like TV receivers now pose a threat because they can get infected by a virus named “talk talk” through the satellite dishes, in addition to a new device that costs $200 to build and can steal a card information by simply placing it next to it… yeah a sane person holding a degree in journalism is actually convinced about that. Make sure to read the full article here.

I have no idea how on earth is a TV receiver supposed to steal some card information… but a simple Google search shows that “talk talk” is actually a telecom operator in the UK that had some of its customer data stolen a while ago, so there isn’t any virus by that name. Moreover the $200 device is impossible to build but there exists what is called a “skimming” instead which involves actually swiping the card.

Next thing you might read in Al Joumouria is most probably about a car-theft gang that is teleporting cars from Beirut to Brital!

Update: I definitely did not mean to endorse punishing journalists by the previous title. The idea is just that such articles cannot be justified at a time when information resources are very accessible and facts can be easily double checked.

Allo Taxi App gets the job very well done!

By Rami on December 16, 2014 in Lebanon

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I’ve been using the Allo Taxi app for a while now and am really loving it. I actually used their rides several times before and was satisfied with their service, and the new app now makes the whole booking process much easier.

Now you may ask why am I writing about Allo Taxi instead of “being cool” and writing about Uber. Well, I’ve tried Uber twice and my main concern was their arrival time. Uber operates less cars and can therefore take a bit of time to reach your place, whereas Allo Taxi on the other hand are literally everywhere and seriously never took more than 10 minutes to reach my location. Moreover, unlike with other apps, Allo Taxi accepts cash instead on insisting to bill your credit card, so it’s more convenient for people who don’t have credit cards and those who prefer not to use it online.

Placing an order on Allo Taxi app is quite easy, you either enter your pick up place manually or let the GPS do it for you, then set the drop off location and get the tariff immediately calculated for you. You usually get a phone call from your driver asking for directions a couple of minutes after placing your order, and will eventually be billed once the trip is over.

In addition, in my opinion a major advantage that Allo Taxi has with the app is the ability to pre-order a ride. For instance, if you have an outing planned for the next day, you can book your ride ahead of time and never worry about it, which is not possible with Uber.

So there you go, next time you hear some bad news about Uber whether here in Lebanon or worldwide, you know you got yourself another much more reliable option!

The Allo Taxi app is available for both Android [Here] and iOS [Here].

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