Michilander

I'm pretty sure I did not misunderstand her, as she spoke excellent English and we discussed at some length, including how Visa required vendors to accept all types of cards. Maybe it was just her, but I could not get her to even try to swipe the card.

WestCoastFlyer

I just returned from Europe a few weeks ago. My primary Visa was a chip and sign card and I never had any issues with an in person transaction at restaurants or with a kiosk - I used it in the Paris Metro several times.

My girlfriend used a regular swipe and sign card in Paris at a department store without issue, but that was the only time she used it.

I will say that I was able to convert all of my cards to chip cards by calling the issuer before I left. One credit card advised that they were available but only issued if requested. My bank advised that their ATM cards were being issued with chips as of mid May and but I had to ask for a new card as they are only sending them for new accounts or at expiration.

shuigao

Just as an additional data point. Spent 2 weeks in Geneva and Chamonix (France) with a chip-and-sign card and had zero problems with any human interaction.

The only time I had a problem was trying to use a Geneva McDonald's automated ordering kiosk, which insisted on me keying in a (non-existent) PIN.

GUWonder

The issue is less the U.S. banks than it is US merchants not wanting to pay for equipment upgrades. That while the major payment networks were concerned about losing out to payment network alternatives/competitors? Change ain't cheap, and a lot of parties are cheap enough that they will squeal loudly when asked to pay more to do what they already can do.

Also, the banks had their own financial incentives to try to keep customers hooked on sig-only credit card use and hoping to keep them away from using debit cards with PINs at payment terminals.

benberg2013

I don't know of any places in the UK where you dont need chip and pin. Some years ago they changed the law, so what do you mean you can generally pay without chip and pin in the UK?

GUWonder

I pay with my chip-less Amex/MC/V at hotels and even at some grocery stores in the UK, without using a PIN.

gnarly

My wife's Hong Kong issued HSBC visa card does not work with Chip and PIN. She advises them of this in advance and they normally have to try it (briefly), before swiping and asking for her autograph. This has never been a problem in the UK.

Her UK HSBC cards and Maltese HSBC cards are PIN enabled.

benberg2013

Do they swipe the card? Recently when the contactless payment started in the UK for less than 20 GBP, more shops are able to accept chip-and-pin-less cards.

stimpy

Yes at about 99% of manned pay points accept swiping cards. Otherwise they'd give up on all that American tourist money.

deniah

lived there in '10 and do 2 weeks a year thereafter ... never been a problem having never had a pinned card

kvan

Maybe a little off-topic. I haven't been to Europe in a couple of years, and we're going next month. Do ATM machines still use the U.S.-standard mag strip card? I use a non-debit type ATM card and I don't think my bank offers anything with a chip. Thanks in advance.

JBord

Yes. I was in EU twice last year (3 countries) and had no problems at all.

Michilander

I have used ATM's in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands in the last few of years using mag stripe cards. As JBord suggests, I do not think you will have a problem.

Andy33

There isn't any law covering the technology used on debit or credit cards, though there has been a law change in the UK covering who is liable for fraudulent transactions.
What did change was that the banks and card issuers in the UK and elsewhere in Europe started supplying only chip and pin cards and over time all locally issued cards have been replaced with chip and pin versions (or for some customers with specific disabilities, chip and signature).
Attended terminals used for validating credit or debit cards will always accept chip and signature (they have to because of the disabled customer issue) as well as chip and pin, and certainly have the facilities for swiping chipless cards. However in parts of the country where US tourists are uncommon younger staff may have no idea what to do with mag stripe only cards as it is possible they will never have seen one, and if the stripe reader on the terminal has become faulty nobody will notice until someone tries to use it.

Automatic terminals are highly likely to only accept chip and pin as there's no means of validating any signature against the card. I have seen some with electronic signature pads for use with chip and signature cards, where the chip at least offers protection against cloning.

stimpy

As mentioned above, you don't need a chip. However if it is a new card or new account you might want to contact your bank to make sure they will allow it to work overseas. Some banks block this by default to protect against fraud.