Hi, All, We do not have a credit or debit card that has the chip in it that has become more common in Europe. We are traveling to Italy and Germany in June. Has anyone had problems using no-chip cards? We will use our cards primarily for ATMs. Thank you.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
I've not experienced a problem in Germany or Italy yet. However, Paris metro was a big problem because the stations without attendants requires users to have a chip and pin card to buy metro tix from the automated machines. That was a minor annoyance. But I just went to Andrews Federal Credit Union and applied and received my VISA with chip and pin. It was a painless process and came very quickly. The VISA also has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. I'm excited to have it just in case I ever need it.
Posted by
OP
Bremen, IN, USA
56 posts
Thank you, Tim, I won't worry then. I don't want to apply for another credit card if I can avoid it. We have whittled our cards down to one plus a debit card.
Posted by
Cesena, Italy
791 posts
Only thing I had problems with using my mag strip CC's was at gas pumps (unattended). No probs with anything else.
Posted by
San Diego
1540 posts
Not sure how much time you have but my Credit Union and CitiCards both offered me a replacement card with chip if I wanted it.
I usually pay cash when I travel, so I just used ATMs to get my cash.
Posted by
Ballwin
833 posts
Since you'll be using card primarily for ATMs, I wouldn't worry about it. That's the way the majority of people play (in cash) and you shouldn't have a problem in either country. Sometimes my debit card wouldn't work in the train station machines in Italy but I just used cash (or I could have gone to a manned window).
Posted by
OP
Bremen, IN, USA
56 posts
Thanks, everyone. My stress has been reduced on this issue. Both my credit card and my debit card companies have not made chips available in their cards, so I would have needed to open a new account. Didn't want to do that. Grazie!