They must have changed that. At a cafeteria that uses MIFARE cards the operation is still not atomic, but the customer loses: If you remove the card at the wrong time, the card is debited but the transaction does not show up on the cashier's terminal, leading to heated arguments. The transaction does show up in the central database, so after spending 20 min writing a complaint you get your money back after a few days.

I guess this is called progress.