Using my Debit Card with no chip

Yes it will.

As long as you have a PIN, your card is good to go. Notify your bank that you will use the card in Italy or it may be blocked by the issuer of the card.

For what it is worth, very few ATM/Debit cards in the US have Chips, all rely on the Mag Strip, and nearly all network ATMs in Europe accept the mag strips, you will be fine.

I agree with the previous posters, but I have 2 suggestions that might be helpful. Sometimes for reasons not obvious, a card won't work. Try another bank, or try later. If possible, have a second card, on a different account.

For what it is worth, very few ATM/Debit cards in the US have Chips

I have two debit cards from different banks and both now have chips. Chip & Pin debit cards are being issued at the same rate as credit cards.

Chip & PIN debit cards are just beginning to be rolled out by the banks. But keep in mind that many people still don't have credit cards with chips yet, and the deadline for that was last October. The deadline for debit cards is this October, so expect to see more chipped debit cards over the next year. Most banks will replace them as they expire.

ATMs still accept magnetic strip cards and will for some time.

And I think it is good planning to have two debit tied to two different accounts. Just as a back up in case something goes wrong with your primary card. Having said that -- I have never had a problem with my primary card although a couple of times it has not worked in an ATM. The first time it happened I really paniced since I didn't have a back up BUT it worked just fine in the next ATM. Since then I carry two and, of course, never had a serious problem. However, sometimes the card will not work so I just move on the next one. Also, I will wait to use an ATM just after someone has used it figuring that if it works for him/her it will work for me. Finally, I always try to use an ATM attach to a bank during open hours. Since ATMs are everywhere I never go looking for an ATM. Just use it when I see one.

We are leaving for Italy in less than two weeks and then a Med cruise and are planning to use just one debt/ATM card with one bank. Every once in awhile someone as on here talks about bringing another from a second bank. Here's hoping all will go well, lots of you use only one. I get a little nervous when some talk about needing to have a second bank card.

Ruth - You don't need a second ATM card but it can be helpful to have a second way of getting cash. On occasion you may not get access to cash via your regular bank card. This might be because of the bank blocking access (thinking someone is trying to steal your money) or due to technical difficulties. Since those scenarios are rather rare, having your credit card PIN to be able to get a cash advance can work in a pinch (yes high interest rates apply, but it's not really that costly if you pay it off immediately when you get home). Or bring your own currency and exchange it if you absolutely needed to. If you don't use it, then you just have plenty of cash when you get home.

As of last October, a magnetic strip debit/ATM card worked just fine in ATM machines. Technically, you can also use it for point of sale transactions if the establishment is willing to run it the old fashioned way. But, I would (absolutely) NOT use it for point of sale if you are only taking cards tied to one bank account. It's just too risky... A bank account can be wiped out pretty quickly if you card information is compromised!

Other things to consider:

If your credit or debit card gets flagged by the card issuer's fraud-prevention unit, it will be almost impossible to use. It means calling the bank BEFORE attempting a transaction (hotel, car rental or ATM withdrawal, etc.) and having the card temporarily unlocked. I've been through this and it's not fun...

That being said, I would take a back-up card. Since you don't have time to open another account and get another debit card, it will have to be a credit card. Just keep in mind that cash advances fees can be astronomical on some credit cards!

In the future, it's ALWAYS best to have an account just for foreign travel.

And, remember, DO NOT perform any financial transactions over a WIFI network regardless of whether you feel the network is secured or not.

We are in Italy now and my daughter has a debit card without a chip. She tried using it today no luck. All my cards are updated with a chip and work fine.

Susanne,

What type of transaction was tried with the non-chip debit card? Was it a purchase at a merchant or an ATM cash withdrawal? This makes a big difference.

And second, has it worked in the past? was this first usage? Did she try a different ATM? This is a weekend, ATMs run out of money and just shut down. Sometime a card can become demag. Need far more information before you can say what the cause was of if the lack of a chip.

I will be only using a debit with magnetic strip this summer also. My bank will not be issuing the new chip and pin debit cards until after we return, I asked today. We will have a credit card with chip and pin but do not want to pay cash advance fees, still working on that. I want two ways to get cash while I am in Italy.

Ruth,

"and are planning to use just one debt/ATM card with one bank."

In all likelihood your one ATM card will work fine. However, consider what impact it will have on your trip if the card doesn't work for some reason, or worse yet one of the ATM's "eats" the card.

I always pack at least two ATM cards and two credit cards as I've found that it's always prudent to have a backup. I have experienced a failure of my primary ATM card during a trip to Europe, and that's when I learned the value of having a backup. The other important factor that helped when my card malfunctioned, was that my Bank was able to easily reach me in Europe (I always travel with a mobile phone). If they hadn't been able to easily reach me, they likely would have frozen both my cards which would have been a big problem.

I only have one debit card, my bank will not issue a second one unless I add a name to my account.

If you must take out a cash advance with a credit card, make sure you can transfer funds from your bank account to cover the whole credit card bill before the cash advance interest charges start piling up. I keep a low limit credit card as my emergency card, have only had to use it once in six years. Or, perhaps you can transfer your credit card balance with the cash advance to another card.

Sometimes a mag stripe only card will fail in an ATM simply because the reader is out of order or dirty and not recognised as the chip reader is still working.

I've experienced intermittent problems with ATM withdrawals at times due to what I believe is system maintenance. On a few occasions, when accessing ATM's during the day (which is the "wee hours of the morning" back home), the data systems may have been "down" for maintenance and the transaction wouldn't go through. Waiting an hour or so usually resolved the problem.

In other cases, I've found ATM's that wouldn't work at all for no apparent reason, but another nearby machine did work.

On two separate trips my husband's debit card was frozen. On both occasions it was near the end of our travel. We were very pleased to have my card for back up. My card is tied to a separate account. Upon returning to our home, his card was still frozen. A quick call took care of it.

I wouldnt use a debit card in Europe, maybe for ATM. Id get a Credit Card that has no International fees (Chase and Capital One have these). Otherwise you'll be getting fees for each transaction. Also, if someone jacks your CC your wont lose case, and the CC company will just block payment. My wife and I have a debit and 2 CC's each for backups. We've had to use them before, some places just wouldnt accept one card or the other.

My wife and I got a chip card for our trip to Italy last fall. While we were in the Dolomites we had no problem using our old card without the chip in ATMs, so I thought we wasted our time getting the new card. In the Cinque Terre, our card without the chip didn't work at the three ATMs we tried, so we used our new chip card.

It's a little confusing using ATMs in Italy, you're never quite sure why your card was rejected. Perhaps the ATM was out of money, or you may have asked for too much money, or maybe you needed a chip....

Bringing a chip card is probably a good idea.

Check the logo on the back of your card for the shared networks. One of my cards was with the Plus Network and one bank in Siena didn't accept it. I had to walk and find another bank to use.