Originally Posted by othermike27

I can't answer your question about amount, but if you look at the CVM sequence, I interpret it to mean that if the terminal doesn't support offline PIN but does support signature verification, you would be asked for a signature before the card would accept online PIN.

The whole issue is confusing to me - all I really want is a card that works everywhere I want it to, reliably and securely. I really don't care a rat's @$$ about what technology is used to deliver that.

If US merchants and card issuers are worried about the American consumer's inability to remember a bunch of PINs and to always dip instead of swipe, what do they think we will do with a card that asks for a PIN one time, and a signature the next? Dip your card, then wait with the merchant to see what happens - PIN or signature, or terminal hang, or...whatever. That's one reason I dumped my AFCU card in favor of USAA. But if USAA has switched CVM sequence on their renewal cards as jeffjaguar's experience suggests...<grrrr>...