Originally Posted by
aidanc
You should not get stranded at an unattended gas station because you don't have a chip card. Not having the PIN for your credit card or the unit not taking your debit card is a different matter.
No, you shouldn't. But you WOULD BE stranded. How about that? Theory versus Reality.
Originally Posted by
aidanc
Can I make it clear that while both mag-stripe and chip cards are co-existing, there is a strong policy from Visa and MasterCard to ensure that both kinds of cards are accepted anywhere the brands are displayed. As previously mentioned, there are retailers who do not understand the policy and give uninformed and misleading information to cardholders.
If you have face-to-face dealings with a merchant who won't accept your card because it does not have a chip - my suggestion, take your business elsewhere, and make this clear to the merchant.
How about the merchant flat out told you, He DOES NOT WANT your business if you insist to pay by mag card? You are, however, welcome to either pay Cash or chipped card.
I have 2 restaurants in Paris told me that. Luckily on both occasions, I had just enough euros on me to pay for the meals.
Please tell us uninformed, how Visa or Mastercard handle this situation? suspend the merchant's privilege?
Originally Posted by
aidanc
If you are asked for a PIN in an unattended environment, you will need to enter it. My suggestion is to know the PIN for a major brand credit card (not debit) and use it in these environments.
Aidan
Do you realize that, in US, the PIN on the Credit Card is strictly for CASH WITHDRAWAL purpose?
Now onto your home turf, the Scandinavia:
Let me tell you a real story - A friend was travelling in Scandinavia this past Summer - I forgot which country now. He told me at a train station, when he went to buy train ticket, the attendant insisted he to enter a PIN on the device,
despite my friend was using a mag card from US issuer, and did not know the PIN on the card. He needed the train ticket,
the train ticket booth attendant would not budge but insisted a PIN must be entered. (So much for knowledge, ha?)
So my friend made up a PIN, and the transaction went thru. My friend said, he really does not know how to make of it -
Does the PIN system prevent fraud? Or, in this real-life experience, proves USELESS, and actually MAKE IT EASIER to commit Fraud, as the PIN he input was a FAKE NUMBER, yet, the transaction went thru. Moreover, he was not require to sign the sales receipt.
You can enlighten us How could that happen, in the above incident experienced by my friend, in one Scandinavian country? (The guy went to all 3 countries and then from there to Russia.)