Originally Posted by
GetawaysRus
Citi is getting us all very confused. I was on the phone yesterday with a Citi rep about my (newly acquired) AAdvantage Chip and Signature MasterCard.
I had called to ask about the PIN for this card. But 2 Citi reps (one in India, and then confirmed by a CSR in the USA) have now told me that the Citi AAdvantage Chip and Signature card does not require and indeed does not even have a PIN associated with it. Yes, that is indeed what they said...
See my response several responses above regarding the pin.
1. Just about all US credit cards can be used to take cash from an ATM (as well as within a bank branch at a teller). It is usually not a good deal as there are high fees and interest runs from the instant you get the cash although some banks do not have fees for this and if you are desperate and need cash as the interesxt is charged monthly, if you pay it back immediately, it isn't so bad. But leaving that aside, this is almost always with US cards an on-line transaction. When you insert the card, the software associated with the ATM makes contact with your bank and the pin, not on the magnetic strip or the emv chip on a US ard, serves as a gatekeeper so to speak. Upon entering the proper pin, the bank allows you in the door to get the cash.
2. Now here is where it gets confusing and frankly I still am unsure of the answer. Some have reported using a chip and signature card to make a purchase, not a cash advance, and the pos terminal asks for a pin. Now with the true chip and pin cards, the transacton is done off line. All the info is on the emv chip and that's where the verification comes from and the transaction is authorized. But as noted some have reported inserting a chip and signature card and being asked for a pin. They have then stated they entered the cash advance pin and the transaction went through as a purchase. Others have claimed you can enter any pin and the transaction will go through (much as the way with foreign credit cards say at a US self service gasoline pump when asked for the zip code entering 00000 and saying the transaction goes through. Frankly, there has been no definitive answer that anybody here can point at and say affirmatively the cash advance pin does the trick.
Most of the banks claim the pin only is used on online transacton in ATM's for cash advances but as I say who really knows.
I hope that clarifies the matter (although it might make it more confusing!)