Originally Posted by
mikew99
I've been to Europe in 5 different countries within the past year, (Ireland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain) and had no problem using my MC/Visa in any of them.
Based on what EasternTraveler is saying, I'm thinking that SOLO, etc. are Europe-based chip & PIN cards that don't have anything to do with MC/Visa. If retailers take these debit cards but don't take MC/Visa, then that would explain why MC/Visa don't work at these establishments. Do I have that right?
I've been to UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, over the past few years.
To be clear: I've never had a problem with a swipe card being accepted at any place that had a Visa or MC logo, or where I asked (without showing the back of the card first) whether they took Visa or MC. (Typicaly I used Visa for gas and groceries, MC for everything else.)
I did have
one restaurant in Copenhagen about three years ago tell me "only Danish cards" when I asked them if they accepted credit cards. (Which implied that it was more specific than just Euoprean chip cards in that case, that there was something incompatible between Danish credit cards and even ones from elsewhere in Europe, on that restauarnt's card machine anyway. Or maybe they required a Danish equivalent of a "zip code" or a Danish phone number to get authorization?)
This is not to say that I was able to pay MC/Visa for everything. Just that I was able to figure out whether I could without them knowing whether my card was swipe or chip ahead of time...