yes, I know 7-11s some Targets and Walgreens etc. still have the system. I thought it was relaunched because a quick google search showed the "new" paypass. OT but :p for the SkyTeam logo on your CO debit card

Don't know if this is true. Information readily available on MasterCard website:

http://www.mastercard.us/paypass.html

Not sure about the rest of the country but over here in LA, CVS Pharmacy, McDonald's and Jack In The Box also uses the MC PayPass/Visa Paywave/AMEX ExpressPay terminals.

OK so maybe I'm just an oblivious idiot, but have you ever seen anyone actually use these terminals? (Totally separate argument though!)

That being said, how would PayPass be fundamentally different than a Chip/PIN or Chip/Signature system?

It's slowly catching on here in LA as those that use them tend to be Chase's "Blink" debit card holders. Plus, Chase has been actively gaining lots of customers from the Hispanic market here that BofA, a long time SoCal stronghold, is feeling the pinch. I heard from my local BofA branch manager that BofA is considering testing their own version of "Blink" debit cards here in LA because of this.

Chase also has a site where it lists merchants near you that have those terminals:
http://www.chaseblink.com/where-to-blink.asp


I wonder if Chase's EMV cards will also have those RFID/NFC chips as well as the chip and the mag-stripe? Then it can be paid in three different ways.


Either way, the manufacturers of those POS terminals (Ingenico and Verifone being the largest) are phasing out the manufacturing of the swipe only machines and making them pre-equipped with RFID/NFC and EMV chip inserts.

It just costs cheaper to mass produce something that can be used all over the world built in with the capability to process payment in different ways than making one specific mag-stripe only machine that the US use. Why build something that only the US uses, when you can build something that can be used both in the US and throughout the world? Retailers then, would just automatically get those all-purpose new machines that has everything built in once their current machines die out.

Down the road, retailers won't have to be forced to change to accept the new payment systems, they'll just get upgraded machines that handles mag-stripes, RFID/NFC, and EMV chips for the same price (or even cheaper price since the POS isn't a specific type just for the US market anymore) once their current machine dies out.

Thought I'd add a few more datapoints for anyone worried about using non-chip & pin cards in europe.

Last September I was in europe for about 6 weeks. France (mostly), Spain (a few days), Italy (a week) and other places for a day or so. Mostly no problems.

We had a car in France/Spain and had to go to manned gas stations (unmanned stations were a problem). In the countryside there was usually a manned station near by. Toll booths there was typically a booth at the end that took swipe cards though not always so we kept a bunch of change on us. Didn't take a lot of rail but needed coins for the RER (there was a manned booth but it wasn't always open). Never had a problem in a smaller shop but we typically paid cash for smaller (<30 euros) transactions.

This last weekend I was in London for a long weekend and no problems anywhere though my GF had some issues in a suburb. Didn't have a car so don't know about gas stations (used an Oyster bought at a booth with a swipe card and topped off with cash).

I was in Switzerland earlier last year and didn't run into any problems anywhere (again using cash for smaller transactions).

I'm hoping I'll be able to get a chip and pin card soon for just in case. Getting a pre-paid sim with good (~1 gb) of data is a MUCH bigger problem (except in the UK where they're at LHR) out in europe.

I've tried occasionally at Jack-in-the-Box and CVS. 9 times out of 10 it won't work - I'm either told it doesn't work before I even try or it just never accepts my card. Whether this is down to operator error or some actual glitch I can't say.

And since a swipe is just as fast at a pay terminal - oh no, I have to use 5 seconds to hit a couple buttons or possibly run my finger on the signature pad (like digital handwriting looks like my signature anyway)...

Odd, my result is exactly the opposite: 9 out 10 it works fine. Maybe it comes around to what how well trained the cashiers are.

I live in the part of the city where there's a significant Hispanic majority and in which many of them bank with Chase. As such, it's highly likely that the cashiers themselves are also Chase bank members who have those Blink debit cards. :confused:

A minority of stores in Chip & PIN countries just flat-out refuse swipe transactions as store policy. (This is distinct from the salesperson being clueless as to how to run a mag-stripe.) I was at a Tesco once where I used a self-service checkout and swiped my non-chipped Amex. At other stores, this generally prompts for a clerk to assist and verify the signature, but here a guy came over and cancelled the transaction because "we only accept chip & PIN here, but there's an ATM down there which you can use" (no thanks, I would rather not pay a 4% cash advance fee).

[Yes, I know it's a violation of merchant agreements, I know the merchant can be fined by their acquirer; I phoned up Amex about it and they said "sorry, can't do much". I expect they need Tesco more than Tesco needs them.]

Moderator action
 

Four posts discussing the wisdom of implementing Chip & PIN have been moved to the companion thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...iscussion.html

Please use this thread only to relay experiences or news, and use the other thread to pass judgment.

I always use expresspay (amex) when available (7/11, cvs, few gas stations, etc).

Chip & pin card available for purchase before travel
 

For those of you who travel overseas, Mastercard offers a chip & pin prepaid card that works throughout Europe, UK and Canada. You can get the card in any of the three currencies. The web site is:
http://www.us.travelex.com/

Suggest reading the thread. That's been discussed thoroughly here and it isn't 100% either. Nevermind the high fees / poor exchange.

But welcome to Flyertalk. :)

I purchased one recently, and there were no fees. The initial transaction had to be for >$500, including cash + money added to the card.

But you're right on the exchange rate.
The exchange rate I got from a BOA ATM withdrawl (not using this card) was 1 EUR = 1.40USD.
The exchange rate I got from Travelex was 1 EUR = 1.58 USD.

I had no idea their fees were so high!

There were no fees (or horrible exchange rates) when pulling the funds out of the account once I returned.

I may be noob here, but....

What if I took an RFID enabled AMEX card (ExpressPay) that was a credit card, and had AMEX assign me a PIN for cash advances....wouldn't this be workable then at an unmanned "chip and PIN" station in Europe?

Say, what if I took my AMEX Blue for Business card with the wireless RFID chip in it and gave it a PIN. Has anyone tried this in Europe?