An article in the travel section of our paper wrote again about the problems of using your c.card or ATM card because of the magnetic strip and not the new chip-and-pin.
Has anyone had problems with using their cards?
Thanks,
Kathy
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32324 posts
Kathy,
Rather than repeat a lot of information that's already posted, you might want to read some of the other Threads here on the HelpLine, as there are lots of comments on that topic.
www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/53377/credit-card-technology-changes-may-affect-your-travel.html is one thread on that subject.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19237 posts
I can see what's developing. Banks are always looking for new ways to collect hidden fees. They're going to stay with the strip cards, but "plant" more and more stories like this about how you can't use your strip card in Europe. Then, when enough people start to worry, they come out with this special feature, a chip-and-pin ATM card for, say, $100 extra per year. Of course, they'll claim that it is not necessary in the USA, so it's an extra service, which they don't have to disclose in their advertising.
The day they do that is the day I start carrying cash from the US.
Of course, if enough people start doing that, they start hiring pickpockets in Europe to target American who carry large amounts of cash, and then get travel writers to write about the pickpocketing.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
We have found no problems with our U.S. credit cards wherever we have traveled in Europe. You may not be able to use them at the petrol pump but you just go inside where it can be used. The merchants have devices that are electrically connected and wireless. For chip-and-pin cards, they just touch the device. For our strip cards, they have a slide slot on the device that works like ours here in the U.S.
Perhaps there will come a day when they will lessen the use of strip cards in Europe but we haven't seen it yet.
Posted by
Seattle, Wa
10 posts
We had only one issue in 3 weeks in Europe (Spain, Italy, France and Great Britian), at the D'Orsay in Paris. The credit card wouldn't work and I think it was because of the pin and chip issue. W requested to have the card run another way, but the clerk did not seem to understand (or care). Not a huge deal, we just paid cash. We used credit cards at all sorts of places, including hotels, metro stations, supermarkets and restaurants with no problems. Our ATM card worked at all the cash machines we tried.