Chip and Pin Cards -- Coming ?? -- Maybe

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo has been knocked by others for having high fees. (See http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/65541/atms-in-europe.html.) So we may finally get a chip & pin card but it will be from a bank that we would otherwise steer clear of due to transaction and other fees. Sigh. I'm hoping that once chip & pin cards are offered by one bank that others may jump in rather than lose customers. Capital One, for example, would seem to be a prime candidate.

Maybe because they charge some fees and make some profit, there are willing to spend some money to see if they can provide better service. If they are successful and the demand is there, others will join.

Paul....me thinks who ever is the first is gonna have extra fees. Even if first rolled out by an otherwise fee decent bank, there might be a special fee to get than card instead of a "normal" one. Not until a dozen or so providers have these types of cards and there is competition for consumers will the fees then drop to be in line with other cards. Travelex charges what they do, because they can. They are the only option. All Wells Fargo has to do is be slightly cheaper. If I was a bank owner and he only one with a chip card for US consumers you can bet your bottom dollar their would be fees on it coming out of the gazzo until I had to drop them do to competition.

Now Chase announces that they will offer cards with EMV chip: http://tinyurl.com/3w57j79 It is a start, but the the real breakthrough will be if one of the low-cost card providers like USAA or CapOne enters the market.

Frank, The attitude of at least some U.S. Banks seems to have changed considerably from their initial position. As I recall from previous comments here over the last year or so, the message from Banks was "chip & PIN cards aren't any more secure than magnetic stripe technology and we have no plans to ever adopt this technology". According to the article you posted, "Almost 10 million U.S. consumers experienced credit-card acceptance problems abroad in 2008, costing about $4 billion in lost transactions for merchants and $447 million in revenue for card issuers". Now that there are huge losses of revenue involved, it seems that they have had "second thoughts" about their once intractable position. Hopefully this will be a start, and other U.S. financial institutions will get on-board. Cheers!

Those who acquire a chip-and-pin card should be aware that it, too, can be skimmed. http://www.pymnts.com/chip-and-pin-is-broken-according-to-new-research

I think most people mainly want the chip and pin card so they can use the self-service kiosks that do not accept swipe cards. I don't think fraud is really a driving factor for getting a chip and pin card. I believe that I read that when the UK first introduced chip and pin, fraud increased. I know that there have been multiple reports of issues with skimmers in tube and train stations in London and I don't think this problem has been solved. I read that one of the reasons that the U.S. did not jump on the chip and pin adoption was that the U.S. already had more robust fraud detection systems in place than other parts of the world so there really wasn't much of a business case to invest the additional money to implement based on projected reductions in fraud.

I wonder if it is possible to make a card that has both. That way America can ease into the transition.

@Colby, Yes, it is possible. The "chip & PIN" cards used here in Canada have both a chip and a magnetic stripe so can use either technology.

Both my European credit and ATM cards have a magnetic strip. I've never used either card in the US, although my wife has used hers in the US with no problems.

Even though European issued cards have the magnetic strip on them, it can be a hassle for Europeans on vacation in the US to use them because the increasing trend of zip code verification to finalize a transaction. It's very common for gas pumps to want a US zip code....also when visiting Washington DC last year, the cashiers at the Smithsonian and some other touristy places needed a zip to complete the purchase. When I asked one of the cashiers how foreigners are able charge things without a zip code, she said "they don't".

Even though European issued cards have the magnetic strip on them, it can be a hassle for Europeans on vacation in the US to use them because the increasing trend of zip code verification to finalize a transaction. . . .
Good point. I suppose this is our revenge for not being able to use our credit cards at automated machines in Europe. I wonder how much help the zip code verification really is. Where I live there are just a handful of zip codes used, so a thief's odds of guessing the right one are pretty high if it is a card stolen from a local.

According to a NY Times article a few months ago, zip code verification is more effective at combating fraud than chip & pin. It also stated it's one of the main reasons that there is no incentive to switch over here in the US.

Those of us who have traveled extensively realize the U. S. has fallen far behind other countries in many areas, our old stereotypes of the rest of the world are outdated. The U.S. is fast becoming third world, travel and you'll see for yourself.

FWIW, after this thread was started, I volunteered with Wells Fargo to be a guinea pig (even mentioned the lost revenue opportunities for WF in the past)...then I held my breath awaiting the response LOL...short story shorter, I was assured they had plenty of first-go around participants, and that this is in the very early stages of investigation :-( I'll stop watching my mailbox...

It's surprising that some of the U.S. Banks have decided to try "chip & PIN" cards, as they initially seemed to be adamant that it was never going to happen. I suspect it will be a lengthy process, as not only will all POS Terminals need to be changed, but the data processing networks of all merchants will need to be updated as well. That's the scenario that occurred here when "C & P" cards were rolled out. The changeover of POS Terminals seemed to happen very quickly (that was likely done by the networks), but it took a LONG TIME for merchants to convert their data networks to handle the new technology. The smaller merchants were set-up very quickly but it took much longer for the large firms to get organized. Safeway has only just completed the conversion recently, more than a year after many other merchants. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.

And conversely, the Target stores here got the chip-and-PIN card readers all ready to go...at least 12 years ago...they finally got replaced with more conventional card readers in my local store just in the last year. Like "Waiting for Guffman" or something...kind of a letdown :-( Feels like the railroad has bypassed my dusty, little town...(sniffle)

"...It's surprising that some of the U.S. Banks have decided to try "chip & PIN" cards, as they initially seemed to be adamant that it was never going to happen. I suspect it will be a lengthy process, as not only will all POS Terminals need to be changed, but the data processing networks of all merchants will need to be updated as well..." The US isn't switching over to chip & pin. The only thing that has changed is that a couple of the banks have announced is that they will be provided chip cards for those few "elite" customers who travel overseas. Other than that, magnetic strip cards still rule for the foreseeable future.

Michael Schneider, Thanks for clarify that. That makes sense, since the cards have both a chip and a magnetic stripe, they'll work both in Europe and the U.S. I assume that the "guinea pigs" that Eileen mentioned won't be able to test their new "chip & PIN" cards until they head to Europe, and that each test period will only last for a couple of weeks (on average).

Or, they could go on the "Canadian Safeway Tour 2011", testing Safeway's capabilities...