PIN for credit cards in France

What are you asking? Do you need a PIN to use a credit card? Only if using a CC to withdraw money which is not a good practice.

For what it's worth, when I was in Holland last month two different merchants needed me to enter the pin number for my credit card in order to finalize the transaction. It's the first time it's ever happened in all my travels. One of the clerks said it was something new, and that only people with credit cards with out smart chips had to do it. So perhaps it's the start of a new trend.

Yes, this is something new. In England this last May, we were denied a purchase in a Dover store because we did not have the proper type of card, which contains this 'smart' chip embedded in it. Another customer showed me his card to indicate what it looked like. It requires a PIN number to complete the transaction. I got the impression these cards are only issued to locals and Americans typically cannot get one here, but then I have not checked into this and frankly, I used my own card everywhere else, sans PIN number, and it was accepted in The Netherlands, Germany, France....

So we went down the street to a larger store and bought the same item for half the price and with our American credit card. Silver lining in there somewhere.

I might add an aside to Frank's post. I use a credit card for cash advances in Europe and have done so for years, which requires a four digit PIN number to complete the transaction. This has to be set up with your bank prior to going.

If you know how to handle this, it saves a ton of time and fees and never costs me a dime extra, while getting the bank exchange rate, which is the best you can hope for.

John, this is something you need to explain a little better. Every credit card that I am familiar with treats a cash advance as a loan with an expensive interest rate starting the moment you withdraw the cash and that can be in addition to currency conversion fees and withdrawal fees depending on the card. I have never heard of a c card giving free money which is what you have suggested. We need the name of that card.

"For what it's worth, when I was in Holland last month two different merchants needed me to enter the pin number for my credit card in order to finalize the transaction. It's the first time it's ever happened in all my travels. One of the clerks said it was something new, and that only people with credit cards with out smart chips had to do it. So perhaps it's the start of a new trend." I've been to Benelux twice in the past 3 months, and yes, I have started to see this as well, also for the first time. I should note, though, that I only experienced this in areas that were far outside the usual loop for American tourists, with one exception- the autmated ticket machines for the Brussels metro (which inconveniently, do not accept bills). It was never a show-stopper, but just a little inconvenient.

As Frank said, every credit card I am familiar with treats a cash advance as a loan, with interest charges accruing immediately. You may be getting the going exchange rate for the transaction, but check your finance charge amount -- I bet you are being charged there. Of course, if you run a balance you might not notice an increase in the finance charge as being from the cash advance, but it's there, I'm sure.

Nancy -

No. No fees or interest. Wouldn't be worth doing if that were the case, would it?

In regard to merchants requiring you to enter a pin when using your credit card, BOA requires me to do this for many transactions at the bank. I find it a pain in the neck but they say it is for security.

I was in Inverness earlier this month and used my CC to make a purchase and did not need to enter a pin.

JoAnn,

Just to clarify the PIN issue. The older magnetic strip credit cards do not require a PIN unless making cash advance withdrawals. For purchases, the card is "swiped" in the normal manner and the customer is asked to sign the receipt.

With the newer "chip" credit cards, all transactions with the card require the pin to be entered. The card is inserted at the end of the machine (not swiped) and remains there for the duration of the transaction. No signature is required with the chip cards. However, one exception - at least at the present time, "chip cards" are also being supplied with a magnetic strip, so if the card is "swiped" then a signature will be required (even though it's a chip card).

Europe has been transitioning to the "chip" cards for the last year or two and of course they're much further ahead with this than we are. There have been a few reports here about travellers experiencing problems using "non chip" cards especially in Holland. Some automated ticket machines (ie: those at Paris CDG) will only accept chip credit cards now (I know, because I had a look at them about a month ago - there were lots of machines but none of those I checked would accept cash or "normal" credit cards).

Cheers!