US credit at French gas stations

You can't sign if no one is there which is typically required for transactions over 50 euros

EDITED to add: I found this varied from gas station to gas station. Sometimes I could pay outside sometimes I couldn't.

You need a chip and PIN card.

Firstly, it is your card issuing bank that decides which charges will be accepted and how.

Secondly, most pay-at-the-pump locations in France are off-line, transactions being accepted by PIN only, and require cards that will accept off-line transactions. Most US bank issued cards are on-line cards and require on-line authentication for transaction approval.

To purchase at these locations in France, you will need a card with a card verification method (CFM) accepting either off-line transactions or an on-line card using PIN only transactions.

Any ideas?

Maybe. Read this carefully...

3-D Secure credit card payments - wha???

That would be a valid explanation for this (surprisingly common) problem, but it's hard to know without more details.

Pro Tip: Saying that something "doesn't work" is pretty vague. It's always helpful to describe exactly what happened (eg: "I got an error message that said my card was declined" or "green smoke started coming out of the gas pump" or "my car suddenly burst into flames", etc.). Details matter. Otherwise vague statements like "My Microsoft is broken" don't really capture the details that others need to help you...

Europe has more stringent requirements for verification of credit card transactions than the US. In the US card issuers accept most of the responsibility for fraud, in Europe, the business or vendor bears the burden, and a lesser degree the card issuer. As a result, businesses will be more diligent, back when I used cards that required a signature in Europe, only in Europe would they check the signature on the back of the card...never in the US.

As a result, at unmanned kiosks, pumps, toll booths, etc. and depending if they are offline or online, you need a PIN, for low value transactions, they may go through though.

Firstly, it is your card issuing bank that decides which charges will be accepted and how.

It's a bit more involved. There is a list of Cardholder Verification Methods in descending order, the issuer of the card establishes the order and types that they will accept. However, the business, or their processor, also establishes a priority. Then there is a dance that occurs to find the most secure common accepted form, sometimes one is found, in a limited case like an unmanned kiosk, maybe none are found. This is why people always ask "what works?" the answer though is "it depends", differing on card issuer, type of CVM the card has, and the business.

Maybe. Read this carefully...3D secure credit card payment

Yes, that is another flavor of card security, but that is primarily for online credit payments. Paying in person, you would not run into this from my experience. However, trying to pay for a hotel online, tickets, or other remote transactions, then yeah, it's an issue.

We have never been able to use our cards at the pump. When traveling we were careful to gas up on the highways with rest stops with manned gas station or to seek out stations during the day that had attendants who could run the credit card.

On the other hand most rapid transit machines do work now. WE were able to charge our Navigo D's with 75 Euro monthly passes at the machine without a pin -- when they ask for a pin we just ignore and it allows the charge to proceed. This was not true 3 years ago when we had to go to a window to get a month pass (even at metros the information clerk CAN do limited transactions with a credit card even though they don't sell passes and tickets or handle cash - beyond purchase of a single ticket)

FWIW I just drove 1200 miles in France this April. I used my Costco Visa for all gas purchases, I "tapped " for each purchase and never entered a pin. Always paid at the pump. Just my .02€ worth. Brad

I've never been able to use a Canadian credit card at any pump outside of North America and always have to go inside. No idea why. I've got chip, pin and tap. I can't use at American pumps either that ask for a zip code.

I have a French bank card which always works for pay-at-the-pump, but I always try a US credit card first, just to see what happens. USAA used to have a Visa with an offline PIN which worked anywhere in France. USAA withdrew their offline cards and replaced them with online cards which were of little to no value to me outside of staffed payment locations.

The Chase Marriott card, has no PIN, but oddly has been accepted anyplace I have ever attempted to use it, even unmanned gas stations. Our Chase Sapphire card is not as widely accepted.

As US banks have moved to chip cards, I hear of fewer purchase problems than I once did. Internet purchases can be a problem, (I am not referring to those on Amazon), but overall, the Chase Marriott card has been remarkably reliable.

I can't use [Canadian Credit Card} at American pumps either that ask for a zip code.

Mastercard Canada has a hack for that you may try. Apparently you take the numbers from your alphanumeric postcode, of which there are 3, then add 00. So something like A2B 3C4 would be 23400.

Not Canadian, so never had to try, may not work for all brands of cards.

I drove for a couple of weeks in December 2021 and had no problem with my Chase tap card. I had a pin for it also but never had to use it at a gas station.

I have a Chase sapphire, which is chip and sign so that may be the issue.
I’m under the impression that chip and pin still isn’t widely available in the USA yet? I know that you can get them, but their fees and/or rewards programs aren’t as attractive to me.
My CC rewards have paid for my family’s European travel once a year since 2005, sometimes twice per year, so I’m hesitant to get a different card.
Thanks for all of the insight!

I have a Chase Sapphire card that has never been accepted at a pay-at-the-pump location in France. My Chase Bonvoy card has never been rejected.

Just a note: PINs issued for ATM advances are not necessarily the same PINs that are issued for transaction authorization in lieu of signature.

Reported the link to the supposed video to webmaster and possibly being malicious since it is on an old thread and from a first time poster.

Brad: (I just wrote 1200 miles in Francis April. Is my Cosco visa for all gas purchases, I "tapped" for each purchase and never entered a pin. Always paid at the pump.)
Does your Costco visa card charge a foreign transaction fee? I have one, but cannot remember if there is a foreign transaction fee or not. I had a lot of trouble trying to get this information from Chase for various cards and have had a fair amount of trouble trying to get any information from Citi. I imagine you would know since you have used the card in France. I would really like to figure out which of my cards might be reliable for paying at the pump without additional foreign transaction fees or cash advance fees.