Chip and Pin cards

Tha Andrews FCU card did not work on some of the toll highways in France and in some parking garages as well. Luckily we had cash for those situations. We will only be in Amsterdam for the day so we will get some cash from an ATM to cover meals, etc.

It's my choice at the time of transaction to use it as either a credit card or a debit card.

That might not work. It is not normal for European banks to issue a card that covers two functions or two accounts. It is normal to have separate card. I have never seen a machine that offered you the option, you just insert the card, confirm the amount and enter your PIN.
I suspect it will just use whatever is the default mode, no choice.

My advice is to try it, maybe it will work, maybe not. The problem is that there are a number of combinations of security and verification methods allowed by your card and then by the Point of Sale (POS) terminal, too many to determine if a transaction will go through. A number of people have reported that their debit card works fine in an ATM, but not at a POS terminal. It also matter whether the transaction is online or offline, and whether the transaction is handled as a Debit (Usually doesn't work in Europe) vs a Credit transaction. Others can chime in, but unless they have the exact same card, all reports are anecdotal, and even then it may not hold.

Thanks, Chris. We plan on having a nice meal in Amsterdam the night we are there. The restaurants don't accept American credit cards anymore? Just cash? And I read that Foodhallen only takes credit cards no cash. Should we ditch that venue for lunch? I guess we had better take out a goodly amount from the ATM at the airport to cover ourselves for dinner and drinks and lunch. The US cc companies and the Europeans are making it tough (and confusing) for American tourists. In Iceland last year, we could not find a working ATM machine for love nor money. The Icelanders seem to prefer cc transactions.

Thanks, Paul. Curioser and curioser as I go down this monetary rabbit hole.

"...where only chip and pin cards are accepted." That applies to the SNCF machines in France if you want to buy a train ticket. The machine does NOT accept cash either.

My main debit card is like yours - you can run a transaction as debit or credit. But I never use it to do anything other than getting cash from an ATM. Debit card transactions for purchases are iffy, anyway. If you need to use credit, use an actual credit card.

Thanks, Nancy. I normally use it just for ATM withdrawals. I just wondered if it could also be used as a chip and pin credit card in case my Andrews FCU failed to work as it did on occasion in France.

I was in Amsterdam in February and had no trouble buying 3-day GVB transit passes with my Andrews FCU card. Also bought a RT for 2 to Haarlem from a ticket kiosk.

We have had success using our FCU debit/credit card at parking lots using our pin. Last year it worked at a chateau in the Loire Valley. This year it worked at the Titanic Museum. These were both parking lots where there were no attendants. BTW - we ran across a lot of places that accept cards that you "tap." That would put us TWO generations behind Europe. Ugh!

I have not been to Amsterdam in over 30 years, but when I was there, I used my visa card a lot.

We travel quite a bit and all over Europe. We use or credit cards everywhere. Only in some countries American Express is not accepted by many establishments.

The only area of Europe that we encountered an issue with credit card payment was in Denmark and Norway. We learned to tell the cashier "signature" instead of "pin." Once that was clear, no problems.

US cards have moved to an embedded chip, but chip and pin is still a leap,

I have been using chip and pin cards at train ticket kiosks for a few months, my PIN was never requested and the transaction was completed.

My personal experiences with cards:

Most cards aren't really chip and pin, even if they have a chip and you have a pin set up for them. Most are chip and signature.

I just ordered an Andrews FCU card that's advertised as a chip and pin - we'll see how it works.

My last two trips have been to France, Spain before that and Scandinavia before that. Generally, I've found no issues with any card as long as a live person is taking it, but I've had at least a couple at restaurants where they had to run it twice. I haven't had success yet at automated gas stations, but no problem if it's open and attended. At French toll booths, it's been hit and miss. Usually I can get it to take a card, after two or so tries with up to three different cards. I've only had to resort to cash once. At train stations, I've noticed I get a card declined statement, then it prints the ticket anyway.

My theory is, in many cases, the transaction times out before they get an electronic approval. Trying again seems to work as often as not.

The Netherlands is very much a cash-centric country

That's the complete opposite of my experience in Holland. I use plastic whenever possible, and with the exception of Dutch Rail, I never never had a merchant refuse my credit/debit cards for purchases in over 15+ trips there.

The using of a debit card as Debit or Credit is a US thing. It was an option asked for by merchants and provided by the major cards (Visa and MaterCard) to reduce confusion at the checkout counter by allowing you to sign for the transaction for customers who can't remember their Debit card PIN. It is still a Debit transaction and makes no difference on how quickly your money gets pulled out of your account or the level of protection your transaction is given. For the most part it works. However, many larger stores that installed the chip reader machines (like Walmart) forced you to always use your Debit card with the PIN -- and Visa sued them.

This means in Europe and elsewhere in the world, your Debit card is a Debit card only. You will be asked for a PIN on every transaction that is high enough dollar wise. I don't know how Debit acceptance vs Credit matters in Europe (i.e. do all Credit card accepting merchants accept Debit cards without issue?).

Thanks everybody for your replies. My debit/credit card must be unique. When I choose to use it as a credit card, it is not debited from my checking account but is shown as a separate credit card transaction on my credit union accounts. When I use it as a credit card here in the states, it is a chip and pin not chip and signature. Hence my question on how it would work in Europe. In the past I have never used it as a cc in Europe but only as a debit card at ATM's. Michael, it is good to know that American credit cards are still being accepted in the Netherlands. I haven't been there in many years. Anyway, I have an Andrews true chip and pin to use and will have euros as well. If the vendor insists on cash and we don't have enough in our pockets, then one of us will have to make a trip to the nearest ATM machine. This has only happened to us once when we were in a restaurant in Italy that wouldn't accept American cc's and wanted cash.