Swipe & Pin? Is that an option?
 

I went to a Carrefour in Poland and wanted to use my Citi-issued Amex with no chip to pay for the transaction. I swiped the card and when prompted to enter a PIN, I asked the rep to override it, she had no clue how to do that, so I used a different payment method. Would the ATM PIN work? What's your experience?

Swipe and PIN is common in Eastern Europe. While there is a service code option for PIN it's generally ignored and terminal configuration is used instead (unlike a chip card where the chip is almost always obeyed).

Your ATM PIN should work.

The question is not just whether the ATM PIN would work, the question is also whether using the ATM PIN would keep it as a purchase, rather than cash advance.

Without knowing local transaction customs (do most people there use credit cards or debit cards) I don't know if it's safe to assume that it would definitely code as a purchase if it's asking for a PIN from a swipe.

Good point. Normally, they would accept contactless or Chip & Pin. If the Pin is not available, it would go to Signature. In this case, I had no Chip and the Self Check-out had no Signature option.

I'm fairly sure that if no cash is actually given to the cardholder as part of the transaction, it will count as a purchase and not as a cash advance. There are exceptions, of course, but those are probably uncommon.

Swipe & PIN is very familiar to Americans, it's how we have used debit cards for a long while and, in a sense, it's how we dispense self-service gasoline.

Has anyone actually verified that a credit card purchase was categorized as a cash advance because an ATM PIN was used at a POS terminal?

It is but would a foreign Amex purchase be approved with Swipe & Pin?

The coding is based on the transaction coding, NOT on whether a PIN was used. That's a myth that keeps coming up.

Yes, I've had swipe and pin with an Amex in Hong Kong. It works fine.

...but that's with a Canadian card which has a PIN setup for purchases?

With a US platinum amex.

Thank you for the clarification.

When I get gas, I'm always asked for a zip code, not a PIN because I run it the way the banks want the card ran (over Visa/MC network). There's too many advantages to swipe/insert and signature at the moment because the banks make more money when the transaction is ran over the Visa/MC network.

Most people run their debit cards as credit now; thus, bypassing the PIN, and many banks are encouraging the "sign" or non-debit network method of paying.

While what you said is right, I think choosing PIN is a poor option for those using a card to buy gas due to debit holds, more liability, etc.

That is exactly what I meant by: in a sense, it's how we dispense self-service . We swipe a credit card and enter a five digit string of numerals rather than signing. (I've never used a debit card to purchase gasoline. Come to think of it I may have never used a debit card to buy anything.)

I wouldn't say that's always the case. For example, I received a new Chase business debit card recently and the paperwork that came with it actually said to enter the PIN whenever prompted.