I think the poster is wanting more clarified information on a step-by-step procedure like:

1. Go to so-and-so bank at so-and-so street in Anytown, USA
2. ask to open account
a. what's needed; drivers license, passport, SSN, etc. etc...
3. Get EMV chipped card

not something like: I am a British dual national with a physical address in the UK, so I can go up to a Barclays bank in Anytown, UK, open up an account there using my British Passport as proof and get EMV card.

As you wish.

Not really. Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC all offer offshore accounts and debit cards. But they typically require $8-10K or more on deposit to open the account and nowhere on their respective sites do they clearly state that the debit card you'll receive will be chip/pin based.

I think the $8-10K min deposit on these accounts puts them out of reach of the average traveler, and as suspected there still isn't a easy way for an American to get a chip/pin based card (unless they are willing to go to Canada and beg).

You're reading the Lloyds information incorrectly. There is no minimum opening or maintenance balance, unless you want to avoid the fee. The fee, as I've said now numerous times, is about $100/yr. It doesn't say you get a CHIP+PIN card because, duh, all cards have them. The Barclays iBank product requires £5k on account, though this is a recent change.

I've now spent more time on this thread that it would take you to get an account.

Lloyds: No monthly fee — if you keep a balance of at least £2,500/€2500/US$3500 there's no monthly fee of £20/€20/US$30

$30 * 12 = $360

If you'd post links instead of speaking in riddles you'd save us all a lot of time.

As skofarrell says, unless you keep US$3,500 on deposit, the fee is $360/year. The other two banks you mention seem even more expensive.

Well, it looks like this is a recent change; the "Premier" tag has bumped up the requirements from just "International Account" ... It must be new (it's tagged "New!" on the website); the previous product was still there a few days ago. The old non-Premier account terms are still documented here on Page 5 and may still be available to open; I've heard of no move to convert the older accounts. The new no-fee minimum balance of $3500 is lower than it was for the previous product ($10k?) so that may help some of you; since it's a debit card product anyway, you're going to want to keep it loaded when travelling. Of course, if you could get 3% on that $3500, that's about $100/yr you'd lose by putting it there instead :p

I'll skip all the heavy panting for class action suits and opening foreign bank accounts. For most people, the lack of a chip based card just requires a little advanced planning and some awareness.

What I can't understand is why the card issuers haven't gone to this system long ago, as it clearly provides better security than either the swipe-and-go or signature verification methods used by US cards (was the last guy whose signature was looked at Ozzie Nelson?). It seems to me, just on observation, that the cost to change software and equipment would pay for itself in a few months in lower fraud costs. And the investment would pay off, not for months, but for years.

I don't for a minute buy the argument that "if it was worth the money, they would do it". That assumes banks always make decisions that are in their best interest. Like Citi allowing churning for so long, I guess.

US card issuers have worked themselves into a corner. They have created a distinction between "signature" and "PIN" based transactions which largely determines whether the transaction fees paid by merchants is large (signature) or tiny (PIN). If they were to change to a system where all card transactions are PIN-based they would need to negotiate new contracts to protect their revenue stream. I daresay this could cost the industry far more than the amount lost through fraud.

Have been curious about this myself. I know very little about the CC biz, but it seems eliminating dual-tier charges and allowing for a flat rate regardless of pin or signature would correct this, no? Assuming signature transactions cost $1 and PIN transactions cost .50 (I'm aware these number are inaccurate), why not charge .75 for either method?

At the risk of turning this thread into OMNI/PR fodder, there's legislation working its way through congress that will try to address the discrepancies in fees between swipe and PIN transactions.

I'm sure in the end, we'll be paying more for both. :p

http://wcbstv.com/national/swipe.cha...2.1740193.html

AFAIK, the difference between PIN-based and signature-based banking comissions in a large charge amount can be ENORMOUS.

I know this because last year these comissions were a newspaper issue locally when PR main processor of ATM's [Evertec division of Banco Popular] changed the way it charged businesses for PIN-based charges from a fixed amount (like $0.25/transaction) to a % of the charge (like 0.08% or 8 cents/$10). That, of course doesn't include the monthly rentals of the Point Of Sale scanners and such; but that 0.08% is much less than the 3-8% banks charge for VISA/MC/AMEX/DiC...

If we take a $10 PIN charge @ 0.08% = $0.08, while a signature $10 charge @ 5.0% (not uncommon for VISA/MC) would be $0.50. Take hundreds or thousands of charges a month or year you'll know why businesses preffer PIN's while for banks signatures are priceless...

credit cards in canada
 

There are various visa rewards credit cards in Canada. As long as you have good credit, getting the appropriate credit card provide is no difficult task. In fact, financial organizations and banks make the whole process easy for you.

Sorry to sound stupid but what the hell is the difference between a pin and signature transaction ??? Like the above example of $.08 cents to $.50 cents
why is there such a huge discrepancy in cost anyways???

What about it being a "signature" costs so freaking much ???

Its all the same !!! they use the same terminals, they all connect and get verification and then put the charge through. Its all the same. Right ????

I mean if I go to walmart or anywhere and buy something with my credit card I run it through the card swiper thing right there at the checkout.

And hell if the purchase is under $25 you don't even sign at many places anymore.

Now if I make that same purchase with a debit card instead I use the SAME card swiper thing and the only thing I do different is enter a pin on that SAME terminal. So what the heck is the difference !!!!! If anything is should "cost" MORE to do debt as it has to transmit the cards info AND the pin number. Just makes no freaking sense. I hate how this country over-complicates everything, but that's a whole other rant.

A PIN transaction is a "two-factor" authenticated transaction: it involves both something you have, and something you know; a signature is just a single factor. So PIN transactions are (theoretically) harder to spoof and thus have a lower fraud factor and so are cheaper to process. (In reality, PIN transactions are off the map fraud-wise, for a variety of reasons unrelated to this point) But: there you have it.

Better of course is a "three-factor" -- with the addition of something you are like a retnal scan or a fingerprint you can be even more sure of the authenticity of the transaction. Stay tuned :)