Originally Posted by
Aviatrix
There is chip-and-PIN, and there is stripe-and-PIN. As we have learnt, while much of Europe uses chip-and-PIN, much of the rest of the world uses stripe-and-PIN. If you are catering to an international audience then you need to be able to accept both methods.
I'm not aware that "much of the rest of the world uses stripe and PIN". Do you have a source for that?
The ticket machines are, of course, not under the control of Schiphol Airport... so perhaps they should be discussed in a separate thread called "Nederlandse Spoorwegen Sucks..."? I remember seeing a thread on Tripadvisor recently on just that subject...
There is generally a movement away from magnetic cards, at least here, as I no longer have a single one in my wallet. My bank card as well as my transport card both work on chips. Although it is not stated on the card, my national ID card, I suspect, also works on a chip. Many stores here which accept debit card payment, have blocked the magnetic strip reader so that people don't use it by mistake.
Since chip and strip readers use completely different technologies, it would not surprise me at all if the elimination of the magnetic readers is mainly a cost consideration.