KML28

We are traveling to Greece next week with a tour group. I just received our documents from our travel company late, since they were sent to the wrong address. Their "advisements" said that we will need pin codes for purchases with credit cards in Greece. I called my credit card company, they said that no pin codes are required for the "chip and signature cards", and I can call their numbers in the back of the card if problems arise. If I want a pin code from them, it would take 7-10 days to mail, and we will be on our vacation already. Does anyone know if we would be in trouble if we don't have our pin codes to make purchases or restaurant charges in Greece?

Andrew

I doubt you need a true Chip and PIN card in Greece. I have one but did not need it anywhere in six countries in Europe when I was there in May-June. I used my Chase Visa card which has a chip but no PIN (Chip and signature), and it worked everywhere, even in machines (except one machine to buy train tickets in Amsterdam - I used my chip and PIN card at that machine). I even used the Chase card in St. Petersburg. The chip helps, though.

When buying something, you will be required to sign a receipt as in the US, even though Europeans will just type in a PIN to make the same purchase.

Andrew

FYI, your credit card company may offer a "PIN" but it may be for cash advances from ATMs, not useful for making purchases. In other words, the PIN will be useless unless you are using the credit card to make expensive cash withdrawals from an ATM.

Michael

This is too late for the OP, but I occasionally had problems with my credit card with a magnetic strip in Bulgaria and Romania. The portable reader read the card and then asked for a code; I did not have one. According to one explanation, it depended on the bank to which the reader was connected. In one establishment, changing readers solved the problem. Switching to an ATM/Debit card was also another solution.

xyz123

Chip and signature cards will work 99.9% of the time in Europe and indeed everywhere. Why any reputable publication would give misinformation is beyond me but it's a moot point anyway as there are only 2 very small US banks that issue what would be called a "true" chip and pin card. Almost every US card with the chip defaults to signature no matter what your bank may or may not tell you so don't waste your time looking or getting upset. And although there are a few places in Europe that violate mc/visa regulations, they are supposed to honor all valid cards either at personneled pos terminals or at kiosks. I have reported the Dutch National Railways to mc/visa for their refusal to adhere to the regulations but they still seem able to get away with it.

Andrew

xyz, more US financial institutions are issuing true Chip and PIN credit cards these days. My credit union started issuing them this year, by default - and it is not a small credit union. I used the card only a few times on my recent trip, including in an interaction with a human cashier at a convenience store. I used my PIN to make the purchase. Wherever I used my Chase Chip and Signature Visa in that situation, I had to sign the receipt slip as usual.

Sarastro

Very few, maybe a half dozen or so, US banks issue chip & PIN credit cards. Holders of chip & PIN cards never sign to complete a transaction; they always use their PIN. Most US banks issue chip & signature cards.

Chip & signature cards may be used at any staffed point of sale. Ruling out ATM cash advances, the PIN, of a chip & signature card, only comes into play when the purchase is made at an unmanned location such as at a kiosk, toll booth, or pay-at-the-pump gas station or anywhere it would not be possible to obtain a signature. At these locations, the chip & signature card holder would authenticate the purchase by using his PIN.

Most banks approve transactions for small dollar amounts without PIN or signature; this dollar value is know as the ¨No CVM limit¨. A card issuing bank that does not issue a PIN with their chip & signature cards is telling you that they will automatically deny any transaction at any unmanned location which exceeds the bank´s predetermined No CVM limit.

Asking for a PIN from a bank which will automatically deny any transaction where the PIN might be required, is probably a waste of time. Better to spend you efforts finding a new bank.

xyz123

Sarastro...in all due respect to you and in no way trying to be rude, you are incorrect. We have discussed this up the gazoots on a forum in flyer talk.

Credit cards with emv chips issued by US banks come in 3 varieties sort of. The vast majorty of US banks, 99.9% as a mtter of fact, have on their card verification methods at the top, signature. These are called signature preference cards and in almost all cases, at a pos terminal will default to signature that is places where a human can complete the transaction. A few label themselves as signature preferred with pin capabilities. They will default to signatures when a human is present and will ask for a pin at kiosks. An example is the Barclay Bank Arrival card but the vast majority of US cards, at least as of today, do not have provisions for pins for purchases. Under revised visa/mc regulations, they are to be honored at all kiosks and in my travels to Europe the last several years, I have never once not been able to use a chip and signature card at a kiosk and I've used them at automatic toll booths, at automatic parking garages, at train stations, on the Paris metro, the SNCF RER machines at CDG, the mainline British railway kiosks at LGW, the tfl machines on the London Underground with no trouble whatsoever.

Incidentally, visa/mc worldwide regulations do allow merchants to waive signatures and pins for small purchases worldwide although it is rarely done outside the USA. In the USA you will find most purchases under $50 do not require signatures but it really doesn't matter as nobody cbecks signatures anyway.

xyz123

This is not the place to go through why the US banks do not wish to issue cards which are pin preferred. The answer of cost, as with everything else concerning banking, is money. Chip and signature cards are every bit as secure as chip and pin cards as long as the card is not lost and the bean counters at the US banks have found that loses due to lost or stolen cards is far less than the cost to implement a pin preferred system. Also Americans tend to carry more cards than most others and it is a pain to try to remember 4 or 5 different pins and the banks' studies have shown that most Americans will shun the pin preferred cards in favor of signature preferred. Beides, since there is zero liability for fraud, if one's card is hacked, it's the bank;s problem, not the individual.

Little has changed since the last time we argued this. There are very few reports on flyer talk of anybody having any trouble using a chip and signature card anywhere in Europe whether it's a pos transaction or at a kiosk. That is not to say it may not happen every so often, usually at places like the Dutch National Railroad kiosks but they are in violation of mc/visa regulations.

BTW for whatever reason, and I don't want to get into it here, the pins used bh almost all American cards for purchases are online pins unlike in Europe where they are offline. Unfortunately, at least in the USA, the train has left the station as far as using pins are concerned and is a long way down the tracks whether any of us likes it or not.

xyz123

Finally, to the best of my knowledge, the only 2 US financial institutions issuing cards that are pin preferred at First Tech FCU and UN FCU. First Niagara had announced plans to issue cards which are pin preferred the day before it was announced that it had been purchased by another bank. I do not know if they ever got around to issuing pin preferred cards. There may be other credit unions which issue signature preferred cards with pin capabilities. Examples are Andrews FCU, State Department FCU and Pentagon FCU but all default to signatures at pos terminals. I don't rule out that some other credit unions which are closed to most do not issue pin preferred cards but they are rare and far between in this country.

The big boys, that is JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One issue personal cards which do not have pins in the list of card verification methods. Interestingly enough, Citibank does issue corporate cards which are pin preferred. No Amex card issued in the USA has provision for pins for purchases.

This is an issue I've spent a lot of time studying as I am a believer in globalization. Using a credit card in Toledo should be no different than using a card in Timbuktu. Unfortunately, as with so many other things, the USA is marching here to the beat of its own drums. Sometimes one thinks that what American exceptonalism means...take exception to things done differently elsewhere. But that's the way things are and there is no indication that the US banks are going to yield on this.

jerseysusan

I was in Greece in June. I was never asked for a pin code when using my credit cards.

yiassas

To answer the original question, a pin is best for use here in Greece, so for anyone able to obtain one then do so (4 digit, both for purchases & ATM debit card use)
It will default to a signature if you don't have one, but you may find some staff less familiar with this! I rarely see anyone sign when using a card, & then it has only been American friends visiting. For smaller value purchases cash is needed, there also some places that do not have a card facility.
For ATM withdrawals in Europe please be aware of the dynamic conversion option offered at some (not all) ATMs & do not use it!
Info here,
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...re-Greece.html

KML28

Thank you everyone for your answers, they are very helpful!