Credit Card PIN

We just returned from Europe, and used the tap payment feature of our Apple wallet 99% of the time. It's a great feature, and keeps your credit cards safe in your secured wallet. Not pin # required for tap payments.
If you use an atm, make sure it's bank-affiliated, or you'll end up with large service fees.
Safe travels!

We used our contactless card everywhere we went in Iceland and Norway last month and never got any local currency. We only needed a pin to buy gas. You should be able to get a pin on the same website where you pay your bill.

I got a pin for my Chase Visa CC before we left for Europe. I rarely needed it, but a couple of times at a kiosk it was asked for and worked fine; I was glad I had it. Have a great trip!

For hotel or other charges over the tap limit, I am always required to sign. I'm never prompted for a PIN because the card is (accurately) identified as not having a PIN for purchases. I haven't seen a PIN prompt in a vending machine since 2018 in Warsaw. However, I don't rent cars in Europe, so I have no idea what's going on with unattended fuel pumps and highway toll gates.

I haven’t been asked for PIN, not even for parking meters. The kiosk to pay toll on the Autostrada does not require a PIN. Unattended fuel pumps I am not sure, but I usually fuel when they are attended (during the day) and the gas attendant has a POS machine where you can insert the card, In any case have some cash with you for when you might need it. Bancomat 🏧 machines are attached to every bank. Just don’t use the ones saying ATM (and not Bancomat) usually attached to souvenir shops. Those are managed by Euronet and charge extra fees.

I only needed a PIN once and that was probably about 10 years ago. On my most recent trip trying to pay for gas at the pump while in Belgium, two cards were declined. It didn’t even ask for a PIN. It simply came up as declined. The attendant was right there when it happened. We went inside and the card worked fine.

In Italy this past March, we never needed a pin. We were able to tap and pay everywhere.

There have been some purchases (mostly in Switzerland), where I was not able to tap and pay. In these instances, I had to insert my card and then sign the receipt.

I think getting a PIN is outdated advice that is no longer useful. I was so worried about needing a PIN that I called my credit card company (Chase) before traveling and they said I did not need a PIN and they would not give me one.

I would suggest brining credit cards from two different banks just in case you have an issue with one not working.

Thanks for the replies. They were helpful.

We carry two debit cards tied to two different accounts. Also have the pin numbers for a couple of our credit cards --JUST in case the two debit cards would not work. You can use your credit card and a pin to obtain cash from an ATM. It is more expensive BUT cheap if you need the cash. We have never had a debit card fail but there is always a first time.

On our most recent trip to Italy ( four months ago) we could not buy tickets for the regional train from the machine without a PIN. We had to go to the window and purchase from a human. But that was the only time in our 2022 and 2023 travel in Italy that we ended a PIN.

On our most recent trip to Italy ( four months ago) we could not buy
tickets for the regional train from the machine without a PIN. We had
to go to the window and purchase from a human.

I recommend downloading the Trenitalia app for your phone and using that to purchase all your train tickets. That way, you don’t need to bother with ticket machines. That’s how I bought my tickets this past March and it was super easy. You can also check the app to see if the trains are running on time (they are often not!) and what platform you need to use.

We had trouble in Germany last year when buying S-bahn tickets from a machine, as it asked for a pin#. The solution was to buy from the app.
Safe travels!