American chip and pin credit cards

Identical question on the France forum. See reply there.

On our trip to Scandinavia in 2014, I discovered the broad use of chip and pin cards, of which I had none. Fortunately, most restaurants gave us the option of either, so I was able to ask for signature instead of pin.

Since then, all my credit cards have been reissued with an embedded chip, that I insert into a machine (that also has the strip function), but I still have to sign for the purchase. I was issued pin numbers for my cards, but have not used them as such. If you have such a card, I suggest calling your credit card company and ask them how to use them as chip and pin.

I have read that the new technology is great for protecting your card from someone stealing your account.

In all the restaurants in Italy that I used an American card they just came to the table with the cc machine and I signed for it. Used a visa and an Amex over there

I used my American chip and pin card (sometimes I can enter just the pin, sometimes I have to sign) in the UK, Germany, and Austria in October. Worked just fine. Bought train tickets from kiosk, used it at restaurants and stores...worked great.

Based on some experience and a lot of reading ....having a true chip and pin card isn't a high priority to me. My Capital One Debit card and AMEX were sufficient for everything I needed. The elusive American chip and pin credit card would only be helpful for buying gas at an unattended station and your chip and sign card will work most everywhere else. The main considerations for me are foreign transaction fees and conversions. I signed up for a Chase Saphire for my next trip (which is also good if you collect miles).

After being frustrated with not being able to use my American chip credit card at several key locations in Europe (e.g., train stations in the Netherlands), I did some online research to figure out why. It turns out that very few banks in the US issue true chip-and-pin credit cards. True chip-and-pin as used in Europe defaults to PIN authorization rather than signature, and allows both online and offline verification (i.e., the merchant's terminal can be connected to the network or not). So a true chip-and-pin card it is pretty much guaranteed to work at any terminal in Europe (although I can't promise that that's true).

There may be one or two other US financial institutions that issue true chip-and-pin cards, but the one I went with was from First Tech Federal Credit Union. Anyone can join this credit union, and the card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. I used it several times in Europe already, including at ticket vending machines and unmanned supermarket checkout lanes, and it worked every time. On top of that, PIN authorization at manned checkouts was generally faster than signature checkout, as one doesn't have to wait for two receipts to be printed. I'd switch even my domestic credit card spending to this card due to this convenience as more and more US retailers support chip and pin, but other cards like Chase Sapphire have much better rewards programs, so I'm sticking with them for now.

Not only in the Netherlands is the US chip/signature credit card not accepted at train ticket machines, likewise in France with SNCF ticket machines. I just put up with it. . Not so in Germany where the DB machines accept the US chip/signature and chip/pin both easily. DB machines are accommodating.

My Wells Fargo debit card (doubles as a credit card too) is a true chip and pin. I put it in the chip part of the machine then enter my pin when prompted. Haven't used it in Europe yet though.

I was just in the Netherlands and my chip and signature card from Bank of America worked in the train ticket machines. You just need to be sure that you know your PIN. However, the French train ticket machines (SNCF) are a different matter. You need a true chip and PIN card, such as those issued by Andrews Federal Credit Union.

I'll echo First Tech Fed for chip and pin. Great card with no foreign transaction fees. The debit card also is good (small foreign transaction fee, waive atm fees if any for first 4 or 5 transactions).