Mastercard PIN ?

In Europe there are no signing cards, debit or credit. They all went chip and pin at least 10 years ago, alot more secure.

But US chip cards work without a PIN in most places; the machine spits out a receipt for you to sign. This is generally the case in stores, hotels, and restaurants.

However, many have reported that a PIN is required for gas stations in France, as well as tollbooths.

"However, many have reported that a PIN is required for gas stations in France, as well as tollbooths."

or for any other unmanned purchase from kiosks, standalone ticket machines, etc.

And train tickets.

This is an oft-discussed topic on the forum, but I'd summarize the practical implications for an average US traveler in Europe as below. This assumes your credit card has a chip, which I think all US-issued credit cards have these days.

• You will be OK at any point-of-sale that has a human, e.g. restaurants, stores, staffed ticket booths, hotels, convenience stores, etc. The difference will be that while a European credit-card holder would input their PIN, a US credit card holder will have to sign a paper slip printed by the machine. In any venue in touristy areas that sees a decent number of Americans, they will be used to this (though they may have to hunt for a pen). In out-of-the-way venues that don't see very many US tourists, they may be a little surprised or unused to the signature slip.
• Your results at automated points-of-sale without humans, e.g. automated ticket machines in the Métro or RER, parking payment machines, gas station pumps, highway toll booths, are unpredictable. You might not have to enter any PIN at all (if the amount is small enough), or any PIN will work, or a PIN of "0000" will work, or you might just straight up be out of luck and unable to pay. In any situation in which you are dealing with a new automated point-of-sale and you don't know how your card will work, it's best to have cash and be aware of alternative options (is there a staffed desk somewhere else that you can pay with?)

Some American cards have the ability to set a PIN for use at automated points of sale (which can make the use of automated points of sale a lot more dependable for you), but nearly all American cards with very few exceptions will default to a signature slip at any staffed point of sale.

And just because you have a pin on a pin/sig card doesn't mean the system will recognize it. The US banking system chose this obsolete system years ago for reasons unclear to me; it makes cards much more vulnerable e.g. if they steal your card, they can have 20K on it in an hour which without the PIN they could not do with a chip/pin card. Why the US chose obsolete is a mystery to me. US cards sometimes work in machines in Europe for small amounts but not always e.g. in a driving trip we found about half of the toll booths accepted our cards; it depended on what company ran the tollbooths in a particular area. In the metro we could charge up an ND for a week on the machines, but not for a monthy as that exceeded the amount without a chip/pin card.

If you have an American credit card, chip and signature, you cannot make the assumption that your cc will work in all non-attendant credit card situation even with a PIN. You need a plan B and generally that means cash.

PS - Jane, the reason the US credit card industry did not accept the chip and pin system -- and it has been acknowledged by them - was the concern that the American consumer would not remember the pin and decrease the usage of the card.

I'm not sure that a PIN has any significance at a toll booth machine, since I don't think those machines even have a key pad. My American chip card, w/PIN, has worked at all toll booths in the last 2 years. As well as at unmanned gas stations and tram machines.

Set up your PIN before you leave for France and choose a 4-digit #. It may take a few weeks depending upon the speed of the bank issuing the Mastercard. You may never need it but it's good to have just in case.

Robert, you have a most unusual chip and signature card because that is not the common experience we have had in Italy or France. You cannot assume your chip and signature will work.

And just because you have a pin on a pin/sig card doesn't mean the system will recognize it

It's because there are 2 verification methods with a PIN, offline and online, plus a dollar amount wildcard. Online means you type in your pin and then the machine connects over a network to your bank to authorize the transaction. Offline means your card has hardware that can talk to the machine and authorize the transaction, so machines that are not online can verify your PIN. Few US cards have this hardware. The wildcard is the amount your card will allow without any authorization at all. This is a value encoded on the card by your bank and sent to the machine when you insert the card, although the machine has to know how to decrypt the value.

The interplay of these factors gives the unpredictable results people get.

AFAIK: An American chip/PIN debit card (the kind nearly everyone has) will work anywhere in Europe and therefore works as a backup.

For a chip/pin DEBIT card, does it have to be a 4 digit pin? I have a 7 digit pin, which causes me trouble once in a while even here in the US.

Don't know about seven. Six digits work. There is a urban rumor that only four digit pins works but that is false. If you have had trouble with seven in the US can you reset it to six?

I didn't even know that one could have a 7 digit PIN - in the US or Europe. So, I agree with Frank - reset it to 6 digits.

Frank, I think the reason that my Andrews card has always worked at unattended gas stations and metro/tram machines is because it appears to have off-line PIN verification as the 2d CVM alternative. At least that's the case if I'm reading this correctly: http://www.spotterswiki.com/emv/cardsearch.php?priority=no_preference&type%5B%5D=credit&type%5B%5D=prepaid
Apparently I could get an Andrews card which would have offline verification as the first option, but I'd first have to deal with Andrews, which I'd rather not do. But as long as my current one works, that's fine.

I've had a State Department Federal Credit Union VISA chip-card for about 7 years, Signature-priority. Because I read a suggestion (not on this newsboard) that you could ask them for a PIN-priority card replacement, I tried that last month. They promptly sent me a new card, which is a different color. I've only used in the U.S. so far, but (for example) in Home Depot, it asked me to enter a PIN on the keypad, as you would hope. Strangely, they did not change the expiration date to farther out than my existing Signature-Priority card had. But I've found that Credit Unions don't have the same business practices as commercial banks.

Interestingly when I tried it at a U.S. supermarket that takes a lot of Food Stamps (... i.e. because I knew they were equipped to solicit PINs), the cashier misunderstood my warning that it would ask for a PIN, and she pressed Enter on HER keypad, and I signed a slip, as usual! I don't intend to use this new card at American restaurants where they take the card away from you, because I'm afraid it may fail, without the wireless PIN input terminals so common in European restaurants. I'll use a traditional Signature-Priority card.

I don't intend to use this new card at American restaurants where they take the card away from you, because I'm afraid it may fail, without the wireless PIN input terminals

Firstly, congratulations on finding a US banking institution issuing a PIN preferred card.

Cards are accepted, or not accepted, by a series of authentication steps established by the card issuing bank. If a vendor terminal does not have PIN entry capability, authentication will slip to the next authorized format, probably signature in this case but, depending upon charge amount, the transaction may be authorized with no authentication (no signature, no PIN). This typically occurs with small amounts, a limit predetermined by the card issuing bank - maybe under $50.

While I agree that losing sight of any card is a very bad security practice, and one practiced too often in the US, a PIN preferred card will probably still function without a European style, wireless terminal.

I've been able to use a "regular" American credit card (chip and signature) almost everywhere.

In stores, hotels and restaurants you will get a receipt to sign. They know what to do.

In machines such as metro ticket machines, rail ticket machines and toll booths I've had a little tougher time. Often it will say the sale was rejected, then spit out tickets anyway. Sometimes you have to try twice. It's annoying but they will work. I've had maybe 1 in 20 toll booths that wouldn't take anything I had (even after trying twice) so it's good to have some cash on hand, just in case. As I recall the biggest toll I've paid was about 8 euro, usually they're in the 4 to 6 euro range.

The only place I can't get my "regular" American card to work is automated gas stations. Work around this by getting gas at an attended gas station - they'll take your regular card. Ask at your lodging for a recommended place to get gas. As a last resort, you can get gas off the toll roads in their rest areas. Those are always attended (pay inside) but are significantly higher priced.

I ended up getting a "true" chip and PIN card from Andrews FCU. I've been able to use that a handful of times at automated gas stations. Andrews is a pain, like a bank in the '70s, so I don't recommend them.

It is annoying to have to sign, but we've never encountered a clerk or cashier who didn't know to print out a slip for us to sign. We have gotten some good-natured ribbing along the lines of "you'd think such a big, technologically advanced country wouldn't still be using these old-fashioned cards ..."

the reason the US credit card industry did not accept the chip and pin
system -- and it has been acknowledged by them - was the concern that
the American consumer would not remember the pin and decrease the
usage of the card.

Very interesting, b/c a chatty clerk in England told us his mother (who has memory loss) can't remember her PIN and has to use a chip-and-signature card. Apparently there are enough of these cases that clerks are not unfamiliar with the signature-needed cards.

Even though my U.S. card has a PIN, I’m always asked for a signature in Europe. For most self-service, no attendant, places (gas stations and grocery stores) my card won’t work. For my Bank of America ATM card, it recommended a 4-digit PIN stating that 6-digit PINs are not accepted at many machines in Europe.

Although I shouldn't speak for Brad, I want to elaborate on what he means by Andrews being a pain. For the first five years I had the VISA card at State Department Federal Credit Union, when I paid the bill (in full, every month) using Bank Of America Billpay, I could not make the payment as a fully electronic (ACH) payment. I had to order a paper check, which was sent to SDFCU with a three-day specified delay. A few years ago, it suddenly changed, without notice. (At least, I didn't have to type a new payee into the B of A system. It was done for me.)

After I got the PIN-First card from SDFCU this year, I closed my Andrews savings account ... because of Inactivity Charges. They would not let me do this over the phone. The lady who "did it for me" on the phone called me back to say that I had to submit a written request, accompanied by a photocopy of a photo ID. That's 1970's banking technology for you!