Barclay's: http://www.barclays.com/internationa...k_account.html

Lloyd's TSB: http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/in...account/apply/

France is the only country in which I found it a hassle to have a card without a chip. The hassle only existed because machines that accepted credit often did not accept cards without chips.

Other than that I haven't had problems with not having a chip. Some places you may ask for them to swipe a second time or something but that's that.

As an add, I have been to all the countries on your list, and some of them I frequent. I never carry much cash on me when traveling.

The Barclays account won't work for US residents:

Products and services on this site may not be available in certain jurisdiction. In particular, these products and services are not being offered in Japan or the United States or to US residents.

Was in amsterdam..the rail system does not take US credit cards..only PIN based transactions...this wasn't the case last year!

Most EU countries have not been problematic. Any place that accepts any Visa will usually accept a US swipe & sign Visa. Same for MC, AMEX, etc. There were some problems in the UK in 2006 with merchants being confused but this was somewhat cleared up within a few months.

However, problems with non chip&pin are growing again. Particularly in the UK but also to some extent in FR, NL, and BE. Within tourist areas there appear to be few problems but outside tourist areas where they don't often see US cards it's becoming a different story. Some merchants will refuse to take non C&P cards though most will give in if you point out that you know that's in violation of their merchant agreement. The bigger problem for these and other merchants is that many simply don't know how to deal with a swipe & sign xaction, particularly restaurants where a tip is involved.

At the Waitrose in South Kensington 2 people spent 20 minutes trying to figure it out and were finally walked through it with telephone support. Of 5 restaurants 2 had no problems 1 took an extra few minutes to find the manager who knew how to do it and 2 took over 20 minutes (with one running up the street to his friends restaurant who knew how).

Most non-attended petrol stations only take C&P. I believe this goes for auto ticket machines in train and tube stations as well though at least for the tube you can still use cash. I have an auto top up Oyster so this wasn't a problem for me.

I thought NL rail had always been NL only cards except the ones at Schipol.

The above statement is the guiding principle. Having lived in London there are some areas which just do not have the magnetic machines anymore. Even stores like Argos the branch inPeckham does not accept magnetic stripe but the other branch in central London does accept magnetic stripe cards.

As of 2 weeks ago Tube stations and national rail accept non chip cards. I bought both one way tickets at the self service and topped up my Oyster card. I had no problems anywhere in London last week of May this year.

I would carry some cash on you in case there are problems. I know people like to insist they are right and get their card run, but if I have the cash I prefer to avoid the hassle, its simply not worth it. With Schwab you can have an ATM card with no forex fees, and a credit card with no forex fees.

Thats just my 2 cents.

Could some clarify if RFID and "Chip and Pin" are two separate categories?
I've read the the AMEX blue is RFID, but what about the JCB credit cards?

So just to be clear are there any banks or cc issuers that offer chip cards?


AMEX
visa
mc

usaa
nfcu
BofA
etc...

this is a real issue in rural france on a sunday night petro station

Yes there is a big difference between RFID and Chip and Pin. Chip and Pin is a contact data chip. RFID is a contactless radio frequency identification system with no pin.

So let me say this very clear:

There are NO banks in the USA that will now or in the future offer chip and pin cards. This also applies to the rest of the Americas and many other countries except those in the EU that are involved in the chip and pin program. Many countries in the EU just recently started the program. Some issuers in the EU are just NOW converting over.

NO USA bank can issue a chip and pin. None will!
Ask till your blue in the face. The answer will still be no!

Barclay's does offer an account for American's based on the Isle of Man. I do not have the time to do all of the research right now. There is a link, google it. I have one of the bank accounts myself. When I return to the US, I will post the link.

I agree with you about the now part, but am unsure about the in the future part. It may very well not happen for some time, but last I spoke to Visa corporate about this issue, I was told that Visa was looking for some US issuers to pilot chip/pin cards for issuance in the US.

This is indeed the major issue. I've had occasional problems with store clerks, but 95% of the time the clerk figures out how to do a signature transaction. A machine that isn't programmed to differentiate between the types of cards is a different manner.

I have two workarounds for machines:
a) machines that accept American Express generally work with a US American Express chipless card (the problem here is that many such machines just take Visa/MC)
b) I have a German debit card that usually works in these machines

Say it as clear as you want, but it is patently and completely untrue. Canada and the rest of Latin America have already moved or are in the process of moving to the EMV standard. The only thing that is true is that the United States is not moving to the EMV standard, and will eventually be the one and only market where EMV is not the standard. Most of the Asia-Pacific region, along with most of Africa, like the rest of the Americas outside of the USA have also moved to or are in the process of moving to the EMV standard. To say that this is an EU-only move, and even then limited to those who have signed up for it, is just not true. It is a worldwide move by the members of EMVCo to eventually create a standard payment platform in every country. The only holdout is the United States.