Computer Chip & Card Use In Europe
 

I've done a search on this site to check discussions on credit card use in Europe and any rejection of cards that don't have a chip in them and there does not seem to have been any mention of this since last summer.

Recently, I've had friends travelling in the UK and in Amsterdam and various areas in France who have had their U.S. $ Visa and Amex cards refused by vendors as the cards did not have the chip in them. Am curious if more travellers may be experiencing this problem recently?

I am aware that vendors are supposed to still accept the other cards but some are not. It has been suggested to carry a printout from the chip and pin website showing vendors are supposed to accept these cards but not sure if there's another alternative.

My local HSBC bank told me when I questioned them about my Visa and Mastercards for upcoming travel they advised me to carry cash in case my cards without the chip were refused! Kind of defeats the purpose of credit cards.

Would appreciate any feedback from other travellers who may have experienced any difficulties with this recently. Also, any problems with Amex cards in Europe if they did not have the chip

Thanks in advance!

Regardless who is the issuer, US-issued cards will NOT work if the vendors dont have readers to read the ancient technology, the mag tape that is.

The vendors which are equipped with the readers for the mag tape can still accept the US-issued cards. However, MANY MANY smaller vendors are NOT equipped with the readers.

Also, if you rent a car, make sure you fill up before weekend or holidays because ALL 24hrs gas stations are NOT manned but take Smartchip cards only. Toll booths after hours or during holidays are NOT manned and only take Smartchip cards, even Cash would not work.

We were almost stranded on the road when we did not realize it was a long weekend in Switzerland last May.

Currently I dont know any US issuer issues cards in US, that with Smartchip.

There is no solution other than have some cash on hand to meet emergency needs.

I see a chip in my American Express Blue. Would it work in Europe?

Nope

The only merchants that don't take the non chip cards are merchants that are solo, switch, electron, maestro, etc card stores. These are not credit cards, they are debit cards. Unless you have a current (checking) account in the country you are traveling you will not have one.

It is the same as merchants in the USA that only accept pin based transactions. Yes I live in the EU 6 months out of the year, so this is not just speculation, but experience.

For these merchants along with the very high % of businesses that are cash only. You will need cash. You can get that without an ATM fee at many bank ATM's (Natwest, HSBC, Bank of Ireland, DB, etc.). The fees will come from your bank if any.

Mag stripes are not ancient or antiquated just older, more reliable and not as privacy invasive.

If you are traveling in Switzerland, simply purchase a loadable card at a supermarket. Similar to a Visa Cash card in the USA.

That is NOT chip in your card. That is a proximity emitter (contactless card). No it is not similar and will not work.

I had the same problem a year and 1/2 ago in the U.K. Upon my return to the U.S. I called both my Master Card and my Vista Card customer service and asked if I could have a card with a chip. Their reply was that the U.S. does not issue that type of card. Anyone who travels abroad should be award of this.

You don't need one!

Any advise re Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, or Poland? We'll be travelling later in the summer, and are anxious to know where these loadable cards are sold. Thanks!

I just returned from Barcelona and didn't have any problems using my plain Jane Schwab Visa anywhere. All the machines I went to were able to read both technologies. I did get cash for cabs, etc. But didn't use tons of it.

You will not need a chip and pin card in these countries. Any merchant that takes VISA or MASTERCARD will have a chip and swipe terminal.

What people dont understand is that there are merchants in some countries that only accept SOLO, SWITCH, ELECTRON, MAESTRO cards. These are similar to an ATM card. (not really but easiest way to explain).

The REAL problem you will have is that a majority of merchants do NOT accept credit cards to begin with in some of these countries. France and Italy will not be a problem. Spain and Portugal, just look for the logo or shop somewhere else. Austria and Poland, either shop at international chains or hit the bank up for cash.

Good luck on your trip. Those are some beautiful places.

This must be a regional issue as I had no problems in Venice and Florence 2 years ago anywhere I'd want to go.

Can you give an example of a type of merchant that doesn't take credit cards? Or location? (i.e. I'd expect everyone in/near a train station or airport to take them, but maybe not in some rural village.) Maybe it's that I have a tendency to remain on the main drags and in "popular" restaurants so I've never had issues... but I can't think of a time when I've been to Western Europe and had any issues whatsoever.

Traveler's checks... well... that's another story. Ugh.

Spain is OK to use magnetic strip cards. UK is hit or miss - so make sure you have a ATM card where you can draw cash should your credit card not be accepted in UK

I've been to Europe in 5 different countries within the past year, (Ireland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain) and had no problem using my MC/Visa in any of them.

Based on what EasternTraveler is saying, I'm thinking that SOLO, etc. are Europe-based chip & PIN cards that don't have anything to do with MC/Visa. If retailers take these debit cards but don't take MC/Visa, then that would explain why MC/Visa don't work at these establishments. Do I have that right?

I've been to UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, over the past few years.

To be clear: I've never had a problem with a swipe card being accepted at any place that had a Visa or MC logo, or where I asked (without showing the back of the card first) whether they took Visa or MC. (Typicaly I used Visa for gas and groceries, MC for everything else.)

I did have one restaurant in Copenhagen about three years ago tell me "only Danish cards" when I asked them if they accepted credit cards. (Which implied that it was more specific than just Euoprean chip cards in that case, that there was something incompatible between Danish credit cards and even ones from elsewhere in Europe, on that restauarnt's card machine anyway. Or maybe they required a Danish equivalent of a "zip code" or a Danish phone number to get authorization?)

This is not to say that I was able to pay MC/Visa for everything. Just that I was able to figure out whether I could without them knowing whether my card was swipe or chip ahead of time...

I was in a small shop in London last month and the sales clerk refused to accept my Visa after noticing the lack of chip. The explanation was that the company's insurance company would not cover them for fraudulent card use for non-chip cards. It was not related to the difference between debit and credit cards. This is the only trouble I've had in hundreds of transactions although many vendors do first try to enter my card into their chip reader.

The continued increase in credit card fraud was a topic of a special report in the news that week, so there could be a corresponding increase in the difficulty using non-chip cards.

Thanks for asking this question. I was planning to try to get a chip card for future travel but it sounds as if the question has been answered here.

Note however that by refusing to accept a non-chip card, they're violating their merchant agreement.

Even worse, they're losing business! I don't normally carry a lot of cash, so if they can't process an American Visa/MC at all, I would probably have to go elsewhere.

Europe has a serious organized crime problem. It because so prevalent that Visa and Mastercard needed the chip to keep clerks from skimming card numbers. To entice merchants into using the new technology they stopped covering fraudulent swipe transactions. I wouldn't be surprised if liability insurance plans followed that.

Long and short of is, more crime in the EU, coupled with a lot of post WWII data collection laws that generally keep the credit card companies from running the same kinds of sophisticated anti-fraud profiling programs we have in the US.

Thank you everyone for your input.

Yes, merchants should take the cards but some are refusing which doesn't help if you're the one standing there with little cash and a card they won't accept even though it is perfectly valid. Especially if you are in a country whose language you don't speak and the person on the other side has limited English!

Carrying extra cash seems to defeat the purpose of having credit cards in my mind.

As my bank here won't issue replacement cards with the chip I guess I'll just have to be extra careful about where I try and make a purchase, check before hand whether there is an ATM in close proximity if I need it and deal with it as best I can.

I can't comment on whether there is more credit card fraud in Europe than other parts of the world, but most card issuers in the UK have very sophisticated anti-fraud programs - I have had a Visa card cloned twice in recent years and on both occasions my card issuer detected the "out of the norm" transactions straight away and shut the card down. On other purchases, I have had phone calls from the card company to check that transactions were genuine - this is from both US-based issuers (MBNA) and UK ones.

Magnetic strips are not accepted in London
 

In London for the weekend and have already been to three stores (Argos, Superdrug and Nandos) and none would accept my US Visa/MC. I do have a Barclay account in the UK with chip and pin and that saved the day.

I will be visiting the Oxo Tower restaurant tomorrow evening and will see if I have a similar experience.

Yes The Oxo Tower restaurant does accept US magnetic strip cards. Great restaurant!

I was recently in Toulouse, France. I could not rent a bycycle from the self service stands all over the city. I called CitiBank and asked if they could issue me a card wit a chip for European travel. Phone agent had no idea what I was talking about.

Funny, I just spent 73.52 GBP on my Schwab Visa at Argos two weeks ago. No chip on my Schwab.

Go to Deutsche Bank and get a loadable.

Go here before you leave the USA:

http://www.visaeurope.com/personal/y...epaid/main.jsp

Go to Barclay's and get an Oyster Visa.

Or don't expect to use some services. Just like if you go to Dollar General and have every credit card but a Visa. They don't take Master Card. Or Fred's that does not take any credit card unless it is a PIN transaction debit card. There are many places in the USA that do not take all forms of payment and the rest of the world is no different.

Maybe I'm just dense but I can't figure out how to actually order a card off that Visa Europe site. There's a page of description, one of FAQ, and a flash-based card creation page that when I click through to create a card says:

"Hope you enjoyed the card design demo. Come back soon for card design competitions and other exciting creative stuff."

The whole site seems rather like an advertisement for the entire prepaid youth visa product (presumably sponsored by various banks) rather than a place to purchase the actual cards. I hope I'm wrong - I've been looking for something like this for quite a while!

Are you a resident of a European country? If not, how did you get one of these cards?

The Barclays Oyster is just for UK residents.

The visaeurope site is just a promotional site. Once you click on the get a card link, it simply directs you to a list of banks that issue cards. (again, you have to be a resident of the country to apply)

I wouldn't know where to start with Deutsche bank.

Just returned from Amsterdam and Italy. Drove all over Italy, stayed in three different cities and never had a problem with my U.S. Bank Worldperks Visa(last trip for that one before Flexperks) and My Capital One Master Card. Both alos worked in automatic toll booths.

I live in the EU 6 months out of the year. I am not a permanent resident of any country but the USA. I travel extensively in every country in the EU and some that are not a member. As I have said repeatedly, you will NOT have a problem using a swipe card anywhere except where they do NOT take CREDIT CARDS. If a business only takes there equivelant of an ATM card then it won't take yours! If they take credit cards, they WILL take yours!

For those of you out there that simply do not know how to or cannot understand or make the cashier understand (some teenagers there are just as dumb as some in the USA are and are not old enough to realize that there was a time when credit cards were swipe only!) that your card is swipe only. I will help you out with a link momentarily.

I have both US, UK and IE bank accounts and have never been forced to use any of them for a transaction. I use the cash back no forex usa cards when traveling.

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.

JCB Credit Card
 

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.