As promised, used my online-only First Tech MasterCard debit card to buy some gas at a closed station today. Worked fine.
...so I suspect that as US ATM networks switch more and more to using the chip, most Americans' debit cards will be a usable backup for the sign-only credit cards most banks insist on issuing.
EDIT: and to add a "shame on Chase" data point, I recently received a new B of A credit card. When I activated it online, I assigned it a PIN. I then proceeded to use it 2 hours later to buy fuel from an unattended station. Come on Chase, you have 95% of the infrastructure there to support online PIN. Do it.
Last edited by der_saeufer; Sep 15, 2017 at 2:24 pm