Chip in the Credit Card

You can use the credit card with a chip. But, bear in mind that many US cards with chips are chip and sign and not chip and pin. So, that means that they often still don't work in unstaffed machines such as those you find for tickets in railway stations. Sometimes, if you hit cancel when it asks for a pin, it still goes through. My card from Chase is a chip and sign.

Pam

Also.. still be sure to let your credit card company know you will be out of country, as many will block foreign transactions if not notified as a fraud prevention tactic.

I used two chip cards on my last visit to France, one a Bank of America Chip and Signature and the other a Barclay Bank Chip and PIN. Both worked without issue.

It does take some getting used to when you have only used the mag stripe cards in the past. First, and the most difficult to get used to for me, is you insert the card into the reader and it stays there until the transaction is done (no in-and-out like the mag stripe card). Second, the chip and signature card may or may not ask for a signature. Only at hotels was I asked to sign. Everywhere else the transaction completed without any further action on my part other than pressing the OK button on the card machine.

If you ask your banks for PIN numbers for your credit cards, they will forcefully state that the PIN is for cash advances only and transactions with a PIN will be billed as cash advances and then go into a full explanation of the chip and signature process which is most likely what your cards are.

If you ask your banks for PIN numbers for your credit cards, they will forcefully state that the PIN is for cash advances only and transactions with a PIN will be billed as cash advances and then go into a full explanation of the chip and signature process which is most likely what your cards are.

This is too generic to be accurate.

Almost every US credit card will be chip & signature, which means to validate your purchase you will sign the receipt or electronic pad (just like you do now for magnetic strip cards). Some banks though are issuing PINs that will work as a secondary validation if the transaction is automated (such as a ticket kiosk). If you do not get a PIN along with your new chip card, most likely it is signature only (note that PINs are sent under separate letter for security reasons). If you do ask for a PIN, most likely it will be for cash advances in the ATM machines only.

We are finding that most, if not all, of the newly issued debit cards with chips do not run with a PIN, but with signature only. The customer wants to run it as a PIN transaction, and we select debit, but the PIN is not required. It runs as a signature transaction. My processor tells me this is up to the card issuer.

The bottom line is that the US is finally catching up to the new technology, but doing it wrong.

Well said Karen! I was told that the banks thought that more pins would just be to darn much for the American public to handle. We need to do these changes slooooowly and only one step at a time. Maybe in ten years they will move to chip and pin...

The US approach is ludicrous. All Australian Visa and Mastercards, without exception, are issued with a chip and PIN.

How hard can it be?

People are always dismissive about the idea that Americans can't remember their PINs, but consider a few things:

Most Americans have between 2-4 credit and debit cards. Each will have a unique PIN. Will people remember each PIN? And it is difficult to change the PIN on a chip card - it has to be done at the bank or in an ATM that is chip enabled. But few US ATMs are chip enabled or will be before October 2016.

Other countries did experience problems with their chip & PIN rollouts - people not knowing or remembering their PINs. Canada is often cited in the literature.

Chip cards are being issued but few merchants yet have readers that are chip enabled. So people may have their chip cards for months but still using the magnetic swipe. Suddenly one day they will need to know their PIN - how many will have forgotten it by then?

Banks will eat fraudulent charges on stolen credit cards (assuming merchants have the chip readers). My educated guess is that they fear they will lose more money in lost sales than in fraud.

With computer technology, banks typically know your card has been cloned or stolen before you do. They can quickly lock it and limit fraudulent charges. My educated guess is that they are counting on their tracking systems to offer protection rather than forcing the customer to remember a PIN.

Hi,

The US chip and signature credit work does not on SNCF machines to buy train tickets. For that you have to go to a staffed ticket counter. A notice to that effect appears in French and English on the SNCF machines, but I've seen that notice also partially defaced.

Not having an American chip and pin card I've found to be an inconvenience. It's much easier at times to pay with a credit card provided your card works. So far, it has in hotels, train stations, restaurants, and shops whether I use the chip and signature or the magnetic stripe credit card, certainly in Germany and Austria, a bit more chancy in France. Since the US has been so resistant in changing over to the chip and pin like those I've seen in France, it would be a real surprise when that happens regardless of the reasons bringing about that change. I don't see it happening. That magnetic stripe technology is literally a quarter of a century old and we Americans still have it.