Originally Posted by LAXRuss

Similarly, SDFCU is a Visa card and they allow the cardholder to choose whether to have a primary Chip & PIN issued card or to live with a Signature preferred + PIN card. (They issue the Signature preferred in the absence of a specific request for Chip & PIN). When I asked specifically for Chip & PIN, SDFCU sent out a new credit card that looked identical to the original Signature preferred card but now requests PIN in lieu of signature at all chip-enabled U.S. terminals, if a signature would normally be required.

Interestingly, the Chip & PIN cards mention that the first time the card is used at a terminal, the PIN is downloaded onto the chip. The SDFCU card does not require the PIN at McDonald's. However, interestingly, the first time I used the new Chip & PIN card was at a McDonald's drive through and it drove the staff crazy-- it took about 90 seconds for the transaction to process, probably because the PIN was being downloaded to the chip, and the cashier called a supervisor thinking that the payment system was having problems. (By the time the supervisor arrived, the PIN had downloaded and the transaction approved without PIN or signature.)

It appears U.S. gas stations default on zip codes for address verification rather than a PIN for Chip & PIN cards. Even with a European AMEX Chip & PIN, U.S. gas stations require the foreign zip code in lieu of the PIN to activate the fuel pump.