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People are missing the point. With only a few exceptions, a new card in the United States is Chip & Sign. In the rest of the world, they use Chip & Pin. A Chip & Sign card won't work in really critical places like a ticket kiosk for a subway or train in Europe. You have to stand in some huge line to buy your ticket from a human. Even worse, it won't work at a toll booth in Europe so you're F'ed if you run out of cash on the Autoroute in France. And you're screwed at an unattended gas station.
Are banks going to change all debit cards so that they have a chip?
I'm hoping they don't, and I'm especially hoping they don't change the number because then I'll have to tell everybody the new number.
With the prevalence of ATM skimming tools, I would hope that they do end up installing chips on all ATM cards. Unlike credit cards if someone makes a clone ATM card and empties my account I'll be out of money for a while, while the bank works on fixing it.
People are missing the point. With only a few exceptions, a new card in the United States is Chip & Sign. In the rest of the world, they use Chip & Pin. A Chip & Sign card won't work in really critical places like a ticket kiosk for a subway or train in Europe. You have to stand in some huge line to buy your ticket from a human. Even worse, it won't work at a toll booth in Europe so you're F'ed if you run out of cash on the Autoroute in France. And you're screwed at an unattended gas station.
Many companies do issue a PIN to use at the POS systems in europe, you have to call customer service and say you're going on vacation to Europe (you should do this anytime you go outside the country anyway since they can block your card), and you will likely need a PIN to buy stuff, I know some people who had luck with that.
Many companies do issue a PIN to use at the POS systems in europe, you have to call customer service and say you're going on vacation to Europe (you should do this anytime you go outside the country anyway since they can block your card), and you will likely need a PIN to buy stuff, I know some people who had luck with that.
Also Canada.
Just getting a pin really doesn't necessarily help though. Generally you got pins to be able to withdraw cash at ATMs, especially if you're in countries which don't use plastic heavily. I mostly just withdrew cash when I was in Prague. The biggest tourist places and major retailers take plastic, but most smaller restaurants do not. That was before chip was common so you regular magnetic strip cards worked everywhere. Normally when you get a pin, that's what you're getting. Often times even with an EMV (chip) card, that's all the pin does and it won't process a chip and pin transaction at all. It will just run with chip and signature and if whatever point of sales doesn't allow that it won't run. That was my experience in Canada. Fortunately I prepared for that and carried cash, still not fun standing around a closed gas station waiting for someone to show up who will let you buy gas on their card. I've since got another card that is chip and pin but I've never used it. It defaults to EMV + signature in the incredibly rare situations where you find somewhere that even is using EMV at all. Supposedly if EMV + signature is declined it tries to run as EMV + pin.
Just getting a pin really doesn't necessarily help though. Generally you got pins to be able to withdraw cash at ATMs, especially if you're in countries which don't use plastic heavily. I mostly just withdrew cash when I was in Prague. The biggest tourist places and major retailers take plastic, but most smaller restaurants do not. That was before chip was common so you regular magnetic strip cards worked everywhere. Normally when you get a pin, that's what you're getting. Often times even with an EMV (chip) card, that's all the pin does and it won't process a chip and pin transaction at all. It will just run with chip and signature and if whatever point of sales doesn't allow that it won't run. That was my experience in Canada. Fortunately I prepared for that and carried cash, still not fun standing around a closed gas station waiting for someone to show up who will let you buy gas on their card. I've since got another card that is chip and pin but I've never used it. It defaults to EMV + signature in the incredibly rare situations where you find somewhere that even is using EMV at all. Supposedly if EMV + signature is declined it tries to run as EMV + pin.
With the ATM card you have to look at the icons on the back of the card or call the bank and ask what networks they use, since they are unlikely to have ATMs themselves in foreign countries. I know in Japan the post offices where the only ones that connected to popular US ATM networks, in Germany I had a similar issue where I had to go look for a special ATM.
Unfortunately your best bet is to take out several hundred dollars in cash and exchange them at a currency exchange, but then you run the risk of getting robbed.
Certainly helps to do your homework before heading out.
At least I'm glad the US is moving off the magnetic stripe which can be cloned ridiculously easy. Looking online there are even stories of knockoff CCs with the entire card number, the same magnetic stripe, and the same security code. So stores claim that the person with the fake CC had the real CC, since that is all they check.
Are banks going to change all debit cards so that they have a chip?
I'm hoping they don't, and I'm especially hoping they don't change the number because then I'll have to tell everybody the new number.
I think that's they way it's going. If you ordered a new permanent card tomorrow, it would have a chip. It wouldn't have a new number on it unless the old card was reported lost or stolen. Maybe the expiration date and 3 digit number on the back would change.
Many companies do issue a PIN to use at the POS systems in europe, you have to call customer service and say you're going on vacation to Europe (you should do this anytime you go outside the country anyway since they can block your card), and you will likely need a PIN to buy stuff, I know some people who had luck with that.
OK. Please list the chip & pin cards. Given the huge number of different cards issued, "many" should be a long list, right? I'm talking chip & pin, not chip & sign.
With the ATM card you have to look at the icons on the back of the card or call the bank and ask what networks they use, since they are unlikely to have ATMs themselves in foreign countries. I know in Japan the post offices where the only ones that connected to popular US ATM networks, in Germany I had a similar issue where I had to go look for a special ATM.
Unfortunately your best bet is to take out several hundred dollars in cash and exchange them at a currency exchange, but then you run the risk of getting robbed.
Certainly helps to do your homework before heading out.
At least I'm glad the US is moving off the magnetic stripe which can be cloned ridiculously easy. Looking online there are even stories of knockoff CCs with the entire card number, the same magnetic stripe, and the same security code. So stores claim that the person with the fake CC had the real CC, since that is all they check.
There were about 8 million of them in Prague that were Visa/PLUS. In Korea I set up a bank account there. Before I did that I mostly had to go to a bank to withdraw cash. The normal ATMs in shopping areas mostly wouldn't work, had to be a bank. Same with Hong Kong. Cambodia was a little more difficult. Pretty much any bank would work, but a lot of the towns don't have a bank.
Last year we got a new Master Card and it has the chip in it. Store issuing it has chip machines but their gas pumps outside still need the swipe bit. Their sister store has chip machines but I never seem to need to sign anything. I get groceries with mine there and probably spend $80 + (don't go often) and don't remember signing at all, ever. We buy everything with this card because we get a small percent back at the end of the year. All over town, only 2 stores take the chip!
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