'Chip and Pin' VISA Credit Cards in Australia

Just read a recent posting in another CC forum... "Australia and NZ are now both chip and pin only"

We were in Australia in February 2013 and our 'no chip' VISA cards with a 4 digit pin through a USA Bank (Capital One) worked without any problems. Is Australia now 'chip and pin' credit cards ONLY?

It appears most USA banks plan to convert to 'chip and pin' credit cards in late 2015... however, we will be returning to Australia with our 'no chip' credit cards in late March 2015.

Thank you!

A quick search finds:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1885669&highlight=pin+and+chip

While PIN and chip cards are widely used outside the US, no country is PIN and chip only. That would be shutting out hundreds of millions of possible customers.

A quick search finds:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1885669&highlight=pin+and+chip

 

While PIN and chip cards are widely used outside the US, no country is PIN and chip only. That would be shutting out hundreds of millions of possible customers.

in Australia our credit cards are under $100 you can tap and go but over $100 its pin only

No problem using our credit card without chip and pin in Australia and New Zealand for any dollar amount in October.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

From the 1st August 2014 we changed to pin only. You can still swipe you card but you do require a pin.

I just looked up an article and it says this does not apply to foreign visitors. So it looks like you are good to go.

Copy from article

Similarly, foreign visitors to Australia will still be able to sign for purchases as the chip and PIN requirement only applies to Australian cards.

We still have to sign when we use our Amex card.

Thank you very much for all the replies... we appreciate them.

To clear up any confusion, this is the situation for the foreseeable future.

All australian bank cards and credit cards are all changing to chip and pin cards, where a pin is required for purchases.

For any purchase under $100, you can use the paywave system where no pin or signature is required, just tap and go, as long as the store has the machine that allows this. This also works for overseas credit cards

Any overseas credit cards (including Amex for Australian residents) can still just swipe and sign. All the new machines still have this option, it's just that all cards in Australia now have the chip so they don't need to sign. But if you don't have one of those cards, they will still work and you can still sign :) This will not change until the whole world has chip and pin.

To clear up any confusion, this is the situation for the foreseeable future.

 

All australian bank cards and credit cards are all changing to chip and pin cards, where a pin is required for purchases.

 

For any purchase under $100, you can use the paywave system where no pin or signature is required, just tap and go, as long as the store has the machine that allows this. This also works for overseas credit cards

 

Any overseas credit cards (including Amex for Australian residents) can still just swipe and sign. All the new machines still have this option, it's just that all cards in Australia now have the chip so they don't need to sign. But if you don't have one of those cards, they will still work and you can still sign :) This will not change until the whole world has chip and pin.

Similarly this side of the ditch in New Zealand. Four years ago all EFTPOS machine terminals had to be upgraded to allow them to take both non chip and chip cards. Non chip cards are gradually being phased out as they come up for renewal. Whilst most cards are "pay wave" capable ( $80 for non pin in NZ ) not all terminals are "pay wave" acceptable and pins have to be added.