PIN vs Chip & PIN

It depends a little bit on where she was. For credit cards, especially northern Europe, the chip and pin card is becoming more critical. Some of the high tourist areas will still accept chip and signature cards or the old mag strip cards. The south areas are still accepting mag cards if a clerk is available. For automatic places like toll roads, unmanned gas stations, some ticket machines - the chip and pin is needed.

For Debit cards at ATMs, to the best of my knowledge the mag strip debit card is still widely accepted. We encouraged more difficult in obtain cash at an ATM was the old mag strip cards.

Hi,

If your May trip is mainly in Austria and Germany or parts of it, you won't have problems. These are the two countries where I have never had an American credit card, magnetic stripe or even prior to that, rejected in any transaction, ie the two most "tolerant" countries regarding US credit cards. If you intend on using the new US chip and signature cards, they'll go through too. Although I've received replacement credit cards ie, the new chip and signature credit cards, I switch off from time to time as long as the particular card hasn't expired yet. Bottom line, whichever type of card I used last June in Germany and Austria at DB ticket machines (Automaten), restaurants, etc, magnetic stripe or chip and signature, no problems at all. That can't be said of Holland and France.

Thanks, both of you.

And Fred, both Mom's trip and our May trip are both in England - hence my posting in the England forum :-)

Both Visa and MasterCard rules require ATMs to accept any valid debit card for cash withdrawals. So your mag stripe card should work fine -- as long as you use bank owned ATMs.

Also, make sure your withdrawal request is not more than you are allowed by your card issuer per day. You can request a larger daily limit from your bank before you leave and they might allow it. Some ATMs also have per transaction limits so if your initial amount requested doesn't work, try something smaller.

Also, it is extremely important to inform your bank/card issuer of where and when you will be out of the country. They will cut you off if you don't.

Suggestion: go to your bank and open a separate account with enough fund to cover your trip needs. Make sure your card is chip and pin. This way, your other personal accounts are secure.

We did this with USAA and had ZERO problems on our multi-month-long trips to the UK. When we returned, we simply closed that account. Easy as pie.

Have fun, May is a great time to visit!

Just back from two weeks in London and Dublin. Our ATM cards are a strip CapOne (CapOne is not issuing this as Chip in the US) and Chip and PIN Schwab, both worked fine at ATM machines. Our credit card is a CapOne Mastercard which is Chip (but not PIN), no issues whatsover with its use, they just ask for the useless signature on the slip with it.

This has held true for trips through mainland Europe also thew last 3 years.

@ Hamlet's Shrink....My last trip to England is admittedly not as recent as that to Germany but was in 2012. At that time there was no problem in my using American magnetic stripe credit cards in London either....no change. US credit card technology with mag stripe has been around over 25 years, since the the early 1990s.

The only problem we had traveling in Britain and Belgium last June was with gas pumps and automatic ticket machines (trains). Our American chip cards are not like the European ones....we have to sign instead of using a PIN. We never had trouble using our card in stores, hotels or restaurants. We got in a pinch running around looking for a gas station with an attendant who could run our card's magnetic strip. It took 4 different stations before we found one! ATMs are no trouble, other than they set their own maximum withdrawals that can be as low as 100 euros/pounds. You get a much better exchange rate using your credit card (especially if you have one with no foreign transaction fees) than the ATMs, especially if your bank charges you a per transaction fee. None of the banks we used in Europe charged a fee to use their machines. We were careful to use only bank ATMs.

Happy Travels!

Today I realized that one of my credit cards (which I haven't used in over a year) does not have a chip so I called them and asked. He verified my address and told me I'd have a chip card in 3-5 days. Very quick and easy transaction. I probably won't use this card because my other card has no international transaction fees, but it's good to have a back up.

ATMs will still read magnetic strip debit or ATM cards. Many US banks are not yet issuing debit or ATM cards with chips, even if you ask.

Thanks to all for the reassurances.

I have PINs for both cards and our Credit Union is not issuing debit cards with chips yet. But from the sound of it, bank ATMs will still accept the mag stripe debit cards with PIN, so we should be set.

Cheers!

Yikes! We just got our new credit cards (our old ones expire this month) and much to my surprise they don't have chips at all! Just plain old magnetic strip cards. Unless they are chip cards cunningly disguised ... I'd better call my bank today; we're off to the UK next month.

Yikes! We just got our new credit cards (our old ones expire this month) and much to my surprise they don't have chips at all!

Geez, what bank is still issuing credit cards without chips? Debit cards are just beginning to be rolled out with chips, but new credit cards should all have chips now. I'd think seriously about the bank that issues these cards and whether you really want to be banking with them.

It's a small town, locally owned bank, the kind where "everybody knows your name." When I walk into the main branch, I can count on at least three people to say "Hi, Jane!" When we had debit card problems in Palermo last year, I could call the bank, ask for Chrystal, and say "Hi, this is Jane; my ATM card doesn't work" and she fixed it while I was on the line.

But to the immediate problem: I did just call them, and the chipped cards will be sent out right away. The person who handles credit cards said the bank is "on the waiting list" to issue chipped cards routinely, but they can handle special requests.

Thanks for the heads-up, everyone.

MrsEB: She didn't tell me how many days, but she did say we'd have the new cards before we leave. Another poster above mentioned it took him about 5 days to get new cards.

Jane - At least they offered to special order you an EMV credit card. The idea of waiting another 2 years for one seems very odd. I too use a small locally owned bank, and love the service. But to be that far behind on the technology does raise some questions. Like who are they ordering credit cards from and why isn't that supplier automatically making them EMV by now?

It does sound odd. I was surprised that the cards we had just received were not chipped. I had the feeling, from the slightly frustrated tone of voice of the person at the credit card desk, that this question has arisen before, so maybe it'll spur them on to quicker action. Squeaky wheels, and all that.