In Detroit, homeless man now takes Visa and Mastercard

[steve2470]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0130/In-Detroit-homeless-man-now-takes-Visa-and-Mastercard

One Detroit homeless man is taking credit for changing the panhandling game.

Abe Hangeston, a homeless man who has been living on the streets of Detroit for roughly seven years, now takes donations in all forms – cash, debit, or credit. The homeless man purchased a card reader for his cellphone that allows him to accept all donations through Square.

Mr. Hangeston, 42, goes by the name “Honest Abe” on the streets. A light winter, which meant a lack of snow removal jobs for the homeless, forced him to go digital to earn enough money to survive, he says.

The end result is a tech-savvy business model aimed at simplifying the giving process and improving his life and the lives of other homeless people in Detroit.

[FLPanhandle]

1. Who the hell would hand over their credit card number to a random homeless person?

The old adage, if someone calls themselves "honest", then they aren't.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. First off, thanks for painting the homeless with your overly broad brush

Second off, as I understand it, Square will not show the man what your credit card number is.