According to the posts in this forum when the question has come up, at a minimum you need a foreign address (evidenced by a utility bill or some such) and credit, and may need legal residence in the country.

I doubt it. Since CCs are less used outside the States it's easier to implement newer technologies. In the States, they would have to upgrade so many end-points... Plus if it makes it harder to pay, stores rather not switch to such a system.

PIN and Chip cards are widely used as debet cards in Western Europe and used to pay in almost every store. Now Visa and MC follow in an attempt to counter fraud.

In general, hard. You usually need to be a resident of the country in which you want to get an account. There are a few banks that offer "offshore" accounts: Lloyds and Barclays are the two I've seen who do this, and they target the expat market. Be prepared for big hassles getting it set up, but it can be done. Lloyds has recently made strides toward opening US branches, though they appear limited to Customer Service and don't, for instance, have ATMs :)

I just noticed that Royal Bank in Canada is offering a US-Dollar denominated Visa card *with CHIP+PIN* ... so for you Canadians who travel to Europe, this might help. I sent them a note asking if the product is available to US Residents, but I'm not hopeful.

Chip Cards from TD Canada Trust
 

A Chip/Pin Visa card is now available from TD Canada Trust. More info here:

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/chip_tdvisa.jsp

As expected, the answer is: no.

This article mentions that there supposedly is some talk amongst US card issuers to offer a Chip & PIN card to US customers (not for domestic use, but for those who plan overseas travel): http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/11/16/4482282.htm

Not sure about the reliability of the article (they don't provide any real specifics, e.g., quotes from a particular source) but it's the first I've come across any mention of the idea at least being contemplated. I don't get why they only have in mind "affluent customers" as potential users other than a false perception that only the wealthy travel overseas?

Anyway, I'm with some other posters in this and a couple other threads, in that I would gladly pay a small fee for a Chip and PIN enabled card to use on international trips.

I live full time in DK and can verify that this is true. That said, I still hold a bank account in the US for personal reasons, and use that debit card here quite often with no problem.

Most of the larger boutiques and chain stores will have terminals that allow use of a US issued mag stipe card, but it has to be used in conjunction with a PIN no matter if it is a debit or credit card. The grocery chain Aldi, will ONLY accept Dankort or cash, and that goes for many individual retail stores. I also have yet to encounter any sales associate who will swipe the card for you at any store and let you sign. Furthermore, I have used my chipless cards (both debit and credit) at many restaurants here and the server took the card and brought back a slip for me to sign-no PIN needed. It also seems to be the same in Sweden, have not tried in Norway, but I assume it will follow the same procedures there.

Sorry can't help you with gas stations, don't usually need to fill up the bike!:cool:

Actually, the cost of a Chip & PIN plastic is about 2-3 times what a non-Chip plastic costs. This means that a Chip plastic can be as much as US$3 - it doesn't sound like much, but when you double the costs for a bank, it really adds up to a lot - especially if they were to do it for millions of cardholders.

Producing them in a one-off fashion for select customers would be more expensive

The cost does not add up for the bank if the customer pays the cost, which was the premise of Ed's question and my response. I'd happily pay a reasonable fee for a chip card that I can use in Europe, etc.

You'd either need a card with both magnetic strip and chip or two cards, which adds to the cost.

The problem I see is not so much the cost of the physical card as the infrastrucure to process the payment. I'd hope that Visa or MC could process through whatever they use for chip & pin cards issued by European banks, but suspect it's more difficult than just flipping a switch somewhere.

This could be done without replacing all US terminals, which is usually cited as the cost of moving to chip & pin. The magnetic strip could still work in the US.

Wow, this thread is still going!

I was increasingly running into situations that required C&P cards. Both from un-manned automated places like petrol stations and stores that simply did not want to deal with mag swipe & sign. I ended up getting an address in Amsterdam with a couple of friends and we got cards from a local bank. Life is massively easier now.

Really stupid that we had to do this (though having the flat is proving kind of convenient) because of U.S. banks being so far behind the curve. I would urge everyone reading this thread to contact their CC company and others and request that they begin offering Chip & Pin cards (note that these are not RFID or any other chipped card. No U.S. bank that I have found offers Chip & Pin). Enough squeaks and someone will begin offering C&P and I'd guess they'd see a chunk of business from Int'l travelers.

Chase has done this, but not for consumers because that's not the important transaction volume...

JP Morgan announced several commercial card initiatives regarding expansion into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Included in that press release was mention of a new card that the bank will be issuing next year: J.P. Morgan’s International Dollar Card (USD) which the bank calls "a cross-border dollar solution complete with Chip and PIN security, and the ability to support clients’ needs in the Middle East, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia."

http://www.paymentsnews.com/2009/10/...travelers.html

However, I imagine it will trickle down to a consumer card after a few years with the appropriate premium annual fee attached.

Sorry for my stupidity but is it safe to assume then that the USA and European "chips" are totally different? Because I thought tons of USA cards had chips in them now? All the ones with "blink" where you just put your card near the blink terminal. Don't those cards have to have "chips" in them. Plus I got an older amex blue card and I can clearly see the small chip in it as the card is clear.
Then you get "pins" by having a cash advance line.

Just was wondering what the difference is? 2 different techs ?

Yep.

Odd that they didn't mention Western Europe.

What's the difference between a consumer card and a commercial card? I'd thought of them as the same, with the exception of central reporting and sometimes central billing.

Out of curiosity do Europeans have the same trouble when they visit the USA?
Or do chip and pin cards also have a magnetic stripe ?