Chip and Pin - Getting Tougher!

It is a two way street. If European businesses want our business should not they be expected to adjust to our credit cards a bit. And it doesn't make economic sense for our credit cards to issue cards that would be rarely if ever used in Europe. However, I could see a credit card company offering an European style card for a fee.

I honestly don't get why some bank hasn't seen niche here. Either as a debit card to increase the number of e-checking accounts or as a credit card. I bet a bank that co-branded a chip and pin visa with a major airline flyer program could see a huge spike in business.

Ed- you have the right idea- now to get it to the attention of the right people...

HEY RICK!!!!!! We want a Rick Steves branded visa credit card. Almost every decent size business has marketed a visa or mastercard credit card. All the airlines, walmart, REI, even Starbucks has a visa card.

I suspect this problem is going to get worse as the conversion to "chip & PIN" cards progresses. It's not surprising that ticket offices are reducing hours of operation, given the current state of the economy. One possibility to obtain a "chip & PIN" card would be to open an account with a Canadian Bank. I checked a few websites and not sure whether this is possible though? This Site is one that seemed to have some answers on the subject, but based on the information provided it appears that may not be possible? I believe they same situation is true for Canadians wanting to open a Bank account in the U.S. Unfortunately, it's not likely that an affinity card program started by ETBD would solve the problem, as this would likely be hosted by a U.S. Bank. One solution that might work would be for Rick to open an ETBD branch office in the lower mainland of B.C. (easy two hour drive from Seattle - Abbotsford or Langley would be good locations to consider, as they're close to the Sumas border crossing which is less busy than the Pacific crossing). With a local address, it MAY be possible to establish a card program hosted by a Canadian Bank. Whether it would be possible to issue cards to those with no permanent address in Canada is something that would have to be determined. Hopefully a solution will be found.....

I have another solution......The United Nations credit union based in Long Island City, NY offers a Visa Elite Chip & Pin Card for a fee of $50 per year. Only problem is that membership is restricted to the following: * An employee or retiree of the United Nations and affiliated agencies * An employee of the United Nations International School * An employee of the US Fund for UNICEF * An employee of the United Nations Child Care Center * An employee of the United Nations Foundation * Employees of the United Nations Association * Employees of USA for UNHCR * Family to a UNFCU member (includes spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, brothers and sisters)
* An individual who resides in and shares financial responsibility of a household with a UNFCU member My thought is that we make up a fake country and hope the person who looks over the application is geographically challenged! For Example, I could claim that I'm the special assistant to the ambassador of the Principality of Grand Fenwick. Other open positions include: dog walker for the ambassador, limo driver of the ambassador, guy who picks up and delivers lunch for the ambassador, personal trainer for the ambassador, Tivo operator for the ambassador etc etc etc. If enough people get in on this they'll just assume it's just another anonymous country they've never heard of, and rubber stamp the approval. This plan is full-proof! Let's give it go! By the end of the month we'll all have chip and pin cards and laugh at everyone else! Here's the application; Let's get it done: http://www.unfcu.org/content.aspx?id=609&linkidentifier=id&itemid=609