Star One EMV doesn't work. In fact none of my cards worked at the counter even for purchasing train tickets at the Cannes station.

Doesn't work at highway toll booths either. In 2007 my stripe cards were fine.

Well an attendant had to come out and handle the cash. So it's rather pointless of them to put in offline chip terminals because they still have attendants around.

And Visa for its part issues the EMV cards to Europeans so why not put them on all US cards? Bet the transactions they lose is greater than the incremental costs of the chip.

nevermind!

Well, as far as I can tell, the GlobeTrek card didn't work anywhere in Iceland, so it was a disappointment there (which was a PITA, at one point in the eastern fjords, the easiest way for me to tank up was to pay cash to a local, and have them fill me up on their card)

I'm still keeping it, since I know it works well in the UK.

I'm in Frankfurt am Main later this month, so I'll try it there as well.

So, just to chime in as an Andrews FCU Chip card owner...

It is NOT chip-and-pin. Never. No matter what, at least in France. I spent the better part of a month and a half there trying it out in metro/train vending machines, tabaac stores, [, gas stations] restaurants, ATM's, etc -- you name it (I'm guessing at least 50 swipes of the card). It never, ever works when a PIN is required. It simply doesn't work.

Specific example: If you use an ATM or a metro/train vending machine, and your purchase is over a small amount (not exactly sure how much but something over 60 EUR is about right), it requests a PIN -- but NOT with the Andrews FCU card. It just rejects the card.

Another Specific Example: If you're at a restaurant and you try to use the card as a chip and pin card, the machines will reject it. You can of course use it like a regular card and sign. Except in places where they require the PIN. If a place requires a PIN with a CHIP card, the Andrews FCU card WILL NOT WORK.

I've seen a bunch of people saying it works fine -- and to address BeeNYC report, RRossi report
-- I strongly suspect that they're not using it in vending machines where the limit requires a PIN and/or they're always signing for things in restaurants/stores/etc., and they've never run across a vendor with a machine that doesn't permit a signature with a CHIP card. Again, if you have a CHIP and SIGNATURE card, it will work EXACTLY as described in the above reports. It is only when the amount you're spending is in excess of about 50 - 60 EUR that a PIN in a vending machine is required. The only way to KNOW the PIN is working is to have someone use the card and actually enter the PIN. I don't think I've seen a single successful report of that. If you read the two ones linked above, they pretty clearly say they were never asked for the PIN, or it just asked for signature.

So, not to hijack the whole thread on Andrews FCU CHIP card, but just to rebut the claim that they're are many good CHIP and PIN alternatives available -- this one IS NOT CHIP AND PIN (at least in France).

P.S. Really extremely disappointed with archaic customer service at Andrews FCU and would never recommend them for that reason.

A good test would have been filling up gas.

Presuming you're talking about Andrews FCU, I tried that too. Doesn't work unless price of tank is below the limit.

nevermind!

I'm seconding rickolis. I used my card throughout the Netherlands last month. Any place there was no attendant, it worked as a chip & PIN--yes, I had to punch in my PIN number, even if the transaction was for a small amount. Any place there was an attendant/shop keeper, it reverted to a chip & signature card.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work in France for you, svft. I'll be in the UK later this year, and look forward to trying it there, too.

Maybe svft's card didn't work because the pin is not encoded on the chip, in which case it would only work at online locations. If he tried to use the card at offline locations the machine would try to read the pin on the chip, not find it, and reject the card.
I got an AFCU card a few weeks ago and would like to find out whether it has the pin encoded on the chip. I will probably call Andrews on Monday and ask; meantime, anyone have info about the matter of whether Andrews encodes its card with the pin?

Just got back from Germany - maiden voyage for my AFCU Globe Trek card. Mixed results.

Before we left, I called the card processor's 800 number to alert them to pending travel. At the end of that call, the agent said I should also call AFCU and tell them the same info. Why? Well, just because that's what we do. Why indeed! Nobody could give me a good answer on that one. OK, so I called. Each call seemed to take way more time than it ought to. Anyone else have to go through this?

First in-country use was at the Wiesbaden train station buying S-bahn tickets to Frankfurt from an agent. She asked if the card was new and had to swipe it 2-3 times; also stuck it in the chip reader. Finally OK and sold us 2 round-trip tix for about 27 Euros. No signature required, and no PIN requested.

In Frankfurt, tried to buy 2 "Frankfurt Card" day passes for unlimited tram/bus use. Could not get the card accepted in 3 different ticket machines. Standing in slow-moving line at a busy ticket office and getting very crabby, wife suggests "why don't you just use cash?" <Oh, Duh!> Back to the ticket machine which happily accepts cash and off we go.

Later, back in Wiesbaden, I try the card at a bus stop ticket machine - no luck. Machine asks for PIN which I enter, then the transaction is denied. And yes, I used the right PIN. Possible explanations why my unattended transactions didn't work: (1) I missed some essential step in directions (I speak some German, but have no prior experience with European ticket kiosks); (2) the transaction was too small, so machine wanted a cash payment - got no indication of this, however. Can't come up with any others.

Over next 2 weeks, used the AFCU card about 10 times for various transactions, mostly small (Euro 20-50). All were in-person with hotels or merchants, accepted with no problem, and all required my signature. On most of these, the card was read with a swipe reader. On one big purchase (Euro 950), the merchant swiped the card, then stuck the chip end into a chip reader, and I was asked to sign, but no PIN required.

Bottom line: I have yet another working VISA card, but no idea whether it works at unattended kiosks, which is why I went through the hassles to get it in the first place.

I suppose I could verify the PIN with AFCU and/or the card processor and ask them why the transactions didn't work, but I don't anticipate a very useful answer. And, I would rather get an independent verification in "live fire" conditions. Anybody have thoughts on how to test Chip-and-PIN around Chicago?

Better luck to you all

Both of these reports are consistent with what I've been saying.
I believe: From what I know of the differences (which, I guess could be incomplete), the card appears to be a CHIP-AND-SIGNATURE card. It does work where a CHIP-ONLY, CHIP-AND-SIGNATURE card works. But NOT where CHIP-AND-PIN *ONLY* is required.

Would love to hear someone use it on a machine that ONLY accepts CHIP-AND-PIN cards *at the amount being charged*. There isn't one in this entire thread in any country SFAIK.

Their claim is to agree the card defaults as chip and signature but they claim if chip and pin is needed, it will work as chip and pin. Of course in many cases, it has been claimed that for example in France the unmanned gas pumps will only work with French cfredit cars and not with credit cards from any other country even if part of the eu. Don't know who's right here.

Both of these reports explicitly state that they used the card with a PIN. It sounds as if your card may be defective.

I followed the recommendation made by Kebosabi and wrote to Andrews FCU to suggest the elimination of the 1% foreign transaction fee on Globe Trek Visa.

To my surprise, I was informed that the 1% foreign transaction fee has been eliminated since Aug. 21, 2012. The information on its website has been updated to reflect the removal of the 1% FTF on Globe Trek Visa.

Thank you....didn't know that. Cometition from SDFCU?