Seeking U.S. Based Credit Card with UK capable Chip

You won't need a chipped card in the UK. Regular magnetic stripe cards work fine.

To my knowledge Chase has the only chip & pin credit card available to the general public in the US: http://tinyurl.com/3shj3mb But I agree with what others have said: magnetic strip cards are widely accepted in the UK.

On the Chase Card, buy the time you pay 95.00 per year to use it, unless you plan to get it, use it free for 1 year, then cancel it, the charges are not much more than the fees you are trying to avoid.

The point is that, while many places will do a stripe swipe, the increasing trend has been to require chip+PIN cards, especially in more remote locales and with newer services. An example is Vélib in Paris (I know, not in the UK): in order to do an on-the-fly hire of a bike, you need a credit card with a chip. I'd imagine that Barclay's Bikes may be similar, though I've yet to use this system. However, the trend has tipped in the direction of chip+PIN throughout Europe, so it's amazing that U.S. card issuers other than Chase haven't yet caught on.

Velib does accept magnetic strip cards at the kiosks...but they must be American Express as they are a sponsor of it. IMO it's not that amazing US card issuers haven't "caught on". The percentage of Americans that travel overseas is so small in the giant scheme of things, it's just not worth the time or effort to implement Chip & Pin.

I just got my NC State Employee Vis Debit Card in the mail and lo and behold, it has a chip and a strip!!! Will miracles never cease.

Congrats John! http://tinyurl.com/3f3sbj8

The world is going Chip and PIN, only the US is holding out (Canada has now switched), which is causing increasing problems for US citizens abroad. Generally, most ATMs will work without a chip, as will most attended paypoints, but make sure you have plenty of cash with you are you may occasionally get caught out.

My husband and I just returned from our trip around England and Scotland, and we had no trouble using our non-chipped credit cards anywhere, even in small towns at stores and restaurants. All the merchant did was swipe the card instead of inserting it in their machine.

Simon, "Generally, most ATMs will work without a chip, as will most attended paypoints" Although this thread concerns use of cards in the U.K., not all "attended paypoints" will accept non-chipped cards. When I bought train tickets at Amsterdam Central several weeks ago, there were signs on each ticket window stating that they ONLY accept "Chip & PIN" cards. No exceptions! A few people who tried to pay with magnetic stripe cards were turned away, and were forced to find an ATM and return with cash. Cheers!

Agree with Ken. You'll be OK in most places except automated (unattended) gas stations etc. Life is certainly easier if you have a chip & pin card. I remember trying to return a rental car in Geneva at 5am, looking for a 24-hour gas station, finally finding one (thank you Google maps) and it only took chip & pin cards. Or last week at Les Halles metro station in Paris: with chip & pin, I could buy tickets from the machine in 2 minutes. With mag stripe, I'd have had to join the long line for the ticket window.

We always use Capital One. They don't charge transaction fees.