This PIN number and chip-enabled card issue has them completely confused. When are we going to catch up with the rest of the world!?

I have never been forced to enter a PIN, but I have had to have arguments with merchants in rural areas — this was specifically a problem in Switzerland — about the fact that chip-and-PIN is NOT standard in America and that I could not get a chipped card even if I begged for it.

It is worth mentioning that you should ALWAYS have cash on you. There have been many times where I tried to use my US-based cards in Europe (either credit, or ATM) only to find that the communications between the EU banking system and the US authorisation system was down (usually at the weekend, too) and I couldn’t use my cards. This caused us massive heartburn in Barcelona, where the communications failures lasted through a bank holiday and we ended up down to our last E0,80 in cash.

I always contact my credit card companies, as well as my bank, each time I travel abroad to let them know where I’ll be and when.

I learned my lesson the hard way when my ATM card didn’t work and my credit card was turned down. It wasn’t because of insufficient funds or lack of payment. It was because they were a little overzealous in their attempts to “protect” me, even though if they’d checked my previous travel patterns, they would have seen I had been to these places before.

Any hints on what to do if I do run across a merchant in Europe that requires a chip on my card? I’m traveling to Paris, Burgundy, Switzerland, Austria, Venice, Florence and Rome.

Thanks.

As for PIN numbers I’ve used them in all sorts of countries, not just Europe. In Canada a couple of years ago I had to teach a retailer how to use their terminal to deal with my chip and Pin enabled card.

Telling your bank you’re going abroad doesn’t always stop problems. I’ve had 2 occasions when I’ve had to call home despite telling my bank where and when I will be travelling because they stopped the card. Personally, I see it as an irritant because I’d rather know my bank is looking out for me than just allowing anything to happen.

Now, PIN in Europe. I can only talk with any authority about the UK because that is where I live. An acquaintance runs a shop in the UK. When CHIP/PIN became “mandatory” he was very careful to tell me next time I bought from him I would have to know my PIN. I pointed out to him that there are still cards with no embedded CHIP. I asked him how he was going to sell to people from abroad who didn’t have a CHIP/PIN card. He looked a bit nonplussed so I suggested he phone his bank and ask. Next time I saw him he thanked me because he had discovered that despite all the propaganda about CHIP/PIN being mandatory it wasn’t true. The bank told him that there are such things as CHIP/Signature cards (something to do with some disabilities) and yes, cards without a CHIP or a disabled CHIP were still acceptable by the old swipe/sign method. I’ve learned when abroad that sometimes you need to get the retailer to phone their authorisation centre to overcome issues such as this. If they want your business, they’ll do it. If not, do you want to do business with them?