Your weirdest, funniest, wackiest payment stories

Here at TrueLayer we know that money and payments are deeply woven into our daily lives, relationships and cultures.

As technology changes, our habits and behaviours may take a moment to catch up - which can result in some seriously funny, wacky and weird interactions.

We love asking payment experts about these stories. They reflect different payment methods coming in and out of fashion, regional differences in payment culture and even the changing rituals of dating.

Did you ever have to bring coins for your “pee jar” on road trips? Or remember a time when no one knew what contactless payments were?

You can watch our payments experts share their funniest payment stories or read some of the best anecdotes below.

"I never used a card reader again"

When Lyndsay Skehan, Associate Principal Business Analyst at JustEat Takeaway, needed to buy tickets in a rush - she realised the payment portal required an at-home card reader.

After searching for the card reader for three hours, she realised her card wasn't compatible.

"I missed the tickets and I never used a card reader again"

"It was a little bit uncomfortable"

While flying across the Atlantic in a small plane might not be the most relatable experience in the world, having a card declined is.

Adam Vissing, VP of Sales at IXO Pays went through this awkward experience while refuelling a small plane at 11pm at night in Nazar, Greenland.

"We were refuelling the plane so we could continue on to Canada. We had a €2,000 fuel bill and my Visa card was declined and blocked at the point of sale."

Thankfully, a call to his bank sorted things out.

"The bank explained to me that their fraud system had fired off because they thought it a little bit strange that I was in Scotland, Iceland, and then of all places in Nazar in Greenland, in one day."

"I can pay with contactless to pee!"

Anyone who's taken small children on a long road trip knows - co-ordinating and timing the bathroom schedule can be tricky.

But Silvia Mensdorff-Pouilly, SVP of Business Development at Worldpay, had a system for her three kids down pat.

"When you drive from the Netherlands to Austria you go through Germany. The have great squeaky clean toilets at the petrol stations, and you pay 70 cents to use them."

Silvia kept a jar of coins in the car to make sure they could all go whenever they need to stop - the pee jar.

Until one day, in cash-loving Germany, Silvia was delighted to find out they had added a contactless payment option.

"I absolutely loved it. I get back to the car, I said to my husband, 'I can pay with my contactless card to pee!''

The future of payments

We know that instant, seamless and secure payments are the future. 

At TrueLayer, we want to change the way the world pays.

Find out more about our payment products or speak to a member of our team.