Yep

Thanks, and I was able to confirm that it was the terminal and not my card. I was at the Poway Walmart today and had a successful EMV transaction (my first) with the same card.

Tried using my BoA chip and signature card at Ralphs tonight. No matter how fast I swiped it still said "card read error". Should have tried the EMV slot since it was lit. The non-EMV Chase card went through first swipe though.

Card read error isn't a "use chip" type error, it's a "can't read the stripe" error. As far as I know, Kroger hasn't actually got off their lazy backside and enabled EMV anywhere yet.

Yeah I know. I just wonder why their terminals have such a hard time reading a new-ish card.

Sometimes the stripes get slightly damaged in the post.

Definitely hasn't worked anywhere in the US that I've tried it. Walgreens, 7-Eleven, etc. It's not a problem with my chip, the card worked fine in England.

Walmart is the only chain where it has wide acceptance - most of their stores.

Looks like CVS is starting to roll out updated EMV capable hardware. Saw one of the new terminals at the one in Imperial Beach (south of San Diego). EMV slot isn't active yet though.

After a successful run with my Citi HHonors Reserve Visa (chip + sig) at my local Wal-Mart, I decided to try the USAA MC chip + PIN card I have today to see if Wal-Mart would ask for a PIN instead of a signature.

I swiped the card so it would prompt me to insert the chip. After inserting, it recognized the card as a Mastercard and waited for the cashier to total the transaction. It then asked me to confirm the amount. After a second, it then asked for my PIN. After entering, the terminal beeped and told me to remove the card.

The receipt does confirm the PIN was used. I spent over $25 so I am not sure if the PIN would always be required or just above a certain amount (like the current "no signature required" policies some stores have).

Why would you swipe the card? That's when a data breach could capture the data needed to make a fake card! Just insert the chip!

I was under the impression (from reading others' experiences) the system currently required you to swipe the card in order for the terminal to recognize you had a chip card.

Nope, that'd be crazy. I use it all the time, just insert the chip and go.

No, you've got it backwards. Swiping is not used to let the terminal figure out if you've got a chip card, swiping is used for you to figure out if the terminal has EMV enabled.

There's a zillion terminals in the US with EMV slots, but most of them are not enabled yet (except at most Walmarts). So if you're not at Walmart, it may be more efficient to swipe (and occasionally get a message to insert instead) than to keep inserting and have nothing happen most of the time (because the EMV slot is not enabled yet).

If you know or strongly suspect (say, because you're at a Walmart) that the EMV slot is already enabled, just go ahead and insert without swiping first.

I can attest that my Chase Hyatt card works at the Torrance Walmart, which was already confirmed by another person. Swiped it, gave me insert card message, cashier told me I have a chip card and showed me how to do it (very well trained on the matter; not that I needed it), screen showed that it was a "Chase VISA Card," asked me to verify the amount, and processed it through the chip.

Cashier mentioned that it's still slow but this was how it's going to be as Walmart takes credit card security more seriously than other companies. Seems like that's going to be Walmart's next slogan? :D