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Old Jul 1, 2012 | 1:45 am
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Mike Jacoubowsky
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Regarding non-chipped CCs in France-

Before being seated at a restaurant, always ask if they take US credit cards, and show them stripe on the card. If you make it clear that's the only way you can pay, they invariably say yes. If you don't bring this up first, when the bill comes, they will often tell you no, or their machine for some reason won't work with it (because they will mis-swipe the card, usually running it through so the stripe is on the wrong side).

French merchants sign a contract with Visa & Mastercard that's very similar to the agreement my business signs with them. An agreement that says they will take any legit Visa & Mastercard, regardless of origin. Period. And they are required, by that same agreement, to have equipment that accepts a magnetic-stripe card. And invariably you will see the thin slot on the side of their machine (the same machine that they will sometimes tell you will not take a magnetic-stripe card). So yes, they can take your card, and in all likelihood they know how to take your card, but they choose not to.

It's not the 2.5% that the merchant wishes to save by taking cash rather than a credit card. It's the appeal of a transaction that is not subject to a multitude of taxes.

Note that there are no such requirements (taking a magnetic-stripe US card) for automated kiosks (train stations, service stations, etc). That can be a real problem when returning a rental car on a Sunday and trying to find gas to refill the tank. Train stations will have reasonable hours at which there will be real live people selling tickets, and they take magnetic-stripe credit cards with no issues.

Interesting to hear about Metro stations having machines that now take magnetic-stripe cards. That's a new one for me! I've tried them continuously through the years but have always had to resort to cash.

Thank goodness the toll booths on the highways, entirely automated, have no issues with magnetic-stripe cards!

I love France. I'd rather spend time there than anyplace in the world. I've found the people friendly virtually everywhere. But the ridiculous charade of restaurants claiming they can't take my magnetic-stripe credit card threatens to go from amusing to annoying.
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