wallaby

Ummmm, we did??

AA_EXP09

There is already a bypass method-put in a non chip card 3x and there is a bypass-it will say "CHIP FAILURE/SWIPE ALLOWED/USE MAG STRIPE"
The merchant, on the other hand, would likely restrict this (and rightfully so.)
Chip and pin can be used in conjunction with chip and sign (the case in the USA-the merchant terminals are the restriction, not the cards, in which many banks have issued chip cards.)
If they have an illness where they cannot remember a PIN, I would suspect that spending money in general would be more difficult anyhow (as I would guess that they are not as capable of adding the total amount spent and balancing a budget? Then again, many foolish perfectly healthy people make the same mistake and I for one have no sympathy for these people, nor should I as they allow the banks to make money and allow me to get more rewards from the banks.)
Getting rid of cheques?
This year, I got one as compensation from an AU based company....

AA_EXP09

My HK based Visa has chip + sign...
CX Amex based in HK is also like that.
If the chip is inserted, on some terminals, it will say 'PIN BLOCKED'

Tiki

The use of PINs still doesn't protect you if someone has cloned your card. The people who do this capture the PIN as well.

When I was in the USA a few months ago, several stores asked to see my ID. I was using my US credit cards to meet minimum spend. I didn't mind at all showing them my passport and I was actually glad they asked.

The main reason I am concerned is that when people try to use USA based credit cards in Australia that don't have chip & pin, they will be rejected and have no other recourse. Some of the most popular cards such as Chase Sapphire, Ink, SPG Amex, Amex PRG, etc don't have it. What are they going to do with the person who needs to pay a $1500 hotel bill with a Sapphire? Or the business traveler who needs supplies at an office store with an INK or a tourist buying an opal ring at a jewelry store with a SPG Amex?

AA_EXP09

Manual card entry?

zebranz

Since the last President was elected.

Tiki

It was announced yesterday that the deadline for this is now 1 August.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busin...-1226807539017

Not sure what they plan to do with foreigners who don't have PINs on their cards.

Last year there were 48,800 visitors from the USA to Australia. http://www.tourism.australia.com/statistics/10373.aspx

mfl

According to the following article , os visitors will still be able to sign.
also the article states that over 7 million card holders will be affected...

http://www.news.com.au/finance/money...-1226807579282

:D!

Are you sure about that?

AA_EXP09

There were 48,800 visitors from the United States of America during November 2013, bringing the total for the eleven months to November to 445,500, an increase of 5.4 per cent relative to the same period previous year. (from the source indicated above.)
This excludes December as well, of which I would expect an increase due to the holidays and summer in Australia.
The figure quoted is from November, so I would expect 500k+ US citizens to have visited Australia.
Another interesting statistic is more HKers visited Australia than Canadians.

tmiw

Some cards may work by using the "cash advance" PIN if the terminal authorizes online.

Yoshi212

I just got my US based Amex with Chip for Chip & Signature. For those US residents wanting this just call up and ask. It's free and they even overnighted it to me at no cost.
I just have the lowly "green" card.
2 out of my 5 credit cards now have Chips (1 Chip & Signature 1 Chip & Pin) and they just so happen to be the 2 that I use most.
It's slow going but the US is catching up with the rest of the world on this system.

docbert

When implemented correctly (which is what Australia is now heading towards) you can't "clone" the "chip". You can clone some parts of it (track 1/2 information is often on the chip), but not the "smartcard" parts of it.

Exactly the same thing they do in countless European countries that have the same restrictions - they let them sign.

They only offer these on some types of cards, not all. Still work asking, of course!

The US is (slowly) headed towards chip-n-pin, and the likes of the recent Target breach are only going to help move things further, especially from a customer mind-share perspective.

tmiw

Which works if the terminal authorizes online. There are enough that don't do that (in Europe at least) that chip and signature may not be much better than mag stripe for some travelers.

Blue has EMV too. Just got mine yesterday You do lose the contactless payment functionality though, but I never really used that anyway.

Yoshi212

I got it on my Green, my ex has it on her Centurion and the rep said it's available on the Blue, Green, Gold & Platinum. SPG seems to be the only main card without it.