PIN for Credit Card Question

[GUT2407]

Are you absolutely certain about that? I was there in 2015 and was able to use a chip and sign card just fine. Immediately prior to the trip I contact Visa and Master Card and they indicated that their agreement required merchants to accept US issued chip and sign cards.

 

Are you certain that the requirement is not that the requirement is determined by issuing county. That since Australia requires chip and pin, all card issued in Australia must meet that requirement, but not that merchants cannot accept cards issued outside of Australia such as US chip and sign ones. That is what Visa and Master card both said.

 

Yep, there is an exception for overseas visitors, there are however two problems,

 

Some machines don't recognise it, many staff have no idea.

[SadieN]

Are you absolutely certain about that? I was there in 2015 and was able to use a chip and sign card just fine. Immediately prior to the trip I contact Visa and Master Card and they indicated that their agreement required merchants to accept US issued chip and sign cards.

 

Are you certain that the requirement is not that the requirement is determined by issuing county. That since Australia requires chip and pin, all card issued in Australia must meet that requirement, but not that merchants cannot accept cards issued outside of Australia such as US chip and sign ones. That is what Visa and Master card both said.

 

 

What they say is practice and what actual practices are in place can be two different things.

 

 

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[caribill]

Are you absolutely certain about that? I was there in 2015 and was able to use a chip and sign card just fine. Immediately prior to the trip I contact Visa and Master Card and they indicated that their agreement required merchants to accept US issued chip and sign cards.

 

 

Try explaining that to a clerk who does not understand English.

[lstone19]

Try explaining that to a clerk who does not understand English.

 

We're talking about Australia. English is the primary language.

[Hlitner]

Lets talk about US issued major credit cards (just about the only NON chip-PIN cards left in the world). Most, but not all, European/Asian merchants will accept a Chip/Signature card. But the operative word is "most" as we have run into several situations (when traveling in Western Europe) where even a Chip/Signature card has been refused by some restaurants and B&Bs). There are also various card reading machines, such as ticket vending machines in train stations, subways, bus stations, and parking garages...that will only function with a Chip/PIN card ( compatible with the European EMV system). When this happens you may be able to use cash in those same machines (although some only take credit cards) or you must find a ticket vendor or ticket window. In addition, if driving around Europe a Chip/PIN card is generally the only type that will work on toll roads (and US issued Chip/PIN cards may not work on all French toll roads). In many parts of Europe, gas stations are fully automated (especially at night, weekends and holidays) and the pumps will only function with a Chip/PIN card. Some of these gas pumps will also accept cash (Euros) but do not give change.

 

Hank

[JohnS43]

The various places mentioned above that might not accept a PIN-less chipped credit card (gas stations, automated ticket machines, etc.) -- do they generally accept a US chip-and-PIN DEBIT card? I'm planning to use my no-foreign transaction fee credit card (chipped, no PIN) as much as possible, but if I run across a place where it doesn't work, will a debit card (mine reimburses all fees) work?

 

One comment: I have several US MasterCards, VISAs, AmEx cards and a Discover. While ALL have added chips in recent years, NONE has a PIN. And only one has the little "wi-fi" symbol However, I also have a Target Red Card (not the MasterCard, the store credit card) that is the ONLY one that has implemented the mandatory use of a PIN with the chipped card.

[RDC1]

Yep, there is an exception for overseas visitors, there are however two problems,

 

Some machines don't recognise it, many staff have no idea.

 

kind of funny that you said he was correct, then proceeded to say there is an exception for overseas visitors, which is exactly what I was saying.

 

According to Visa and Mastercard their agreements with merchants require that merchants in Australia and New Zealand accept cards issued in the US (chip and sign). Financial institutions in Australia and New Zealand only issue chip and pin, so locals have no choice they must use Chip and pin since the law changed there. But as I said Visa and Master Card indicated and you said with your comment about exception for overseas visitors US Chip and sign cards will still work.

 

Visa and Mastercard also told me that if I encountered a merchant that would not accept them to give them a call, collect, and they would resolve the issue, because their merchants agreement required acceptance. Now that might not extend to automated kiosks.

 

I spent a lengthy amount of time in both countries last year and did not have a problem.

[RDC1]

The various places mentioned above that might not accept a PIN-less chipped credit card (gas stations, automated ticket machines, etc.) -- do they generally accept a US chip-and-PIN DEBIT card? I'm planning to use my no-foreign transaction fee credit card (chipped, no PIN) as much as possible, but if I run across a place where it doesn't work, will a debit card (mine reimburses all fees) work?

 

One comment: I have several US MasterCards, VISAs, AmEx cards and a Discover. While ALL have added chips in recent years, NONE has a PIN. And only one has the little "wi-fi" symbol However, I also have a Target Red Card (not the MasterCard, the store credit card) that is the ONLY one that has implemented the mandatory use of a PIN with the chipped card.

 

My experience last year was no they will not work. Only tried it a couple of times but it failed when I tried it. The encryption and communications protocols are different for US issued debit cards with pins, and chip and pin cards issued in Australia and New Zealand. They will work in ATM machines however.

[RDC1]

What they say is practice and what actual practices are in place can be two different things.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I found two cases where they did not want to accept it or said that they could not. Called Visa, they explained the situation to them, told them how to process it, and they accepted it. Took about 3 minutes to resolve. In both cases it was in small towns, non-tourist areas and they indicated afterwards that they did not realize that they could process them.

Edited July 10, 2016 by RDC1