im going to italy in may, my usaa visa does not have a chip , and usaa tells me , they do not offer a visa with a chip, but they are sending me a new mastercard with a chip. questions: does my visa need to be chiped to use it in italy, and is mastercard accepted everywhere like a visa card , in italy ?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Answers:
No. Yes.
And you could have gotten by just fine on your old Visa.
Posted by
Spokane, WA, USA
191 posts
Agree. Every time we go, I ask our card company if I can get one with a chip, and the answer so far is no. But we have not had any trouble using our standard American card in Italy, Greece, Turkey or France.
Jan
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23666 posts
Without a chip in Italy, you will encounter problems at automated ticket machines, unmanned gas stations, and toll booths. Some of the older ticket machines will still accept mag strip cards but the newer ones will not. A debit card at an ATM is fine with the mag strip as is most restaurants and merchants. The mastercard may not have the correct chip.
Posted by
Reading, PA, USA
1637 posts
The Master Card from USAA has the right chip. It is a "chip and pin" card. I have one.