using a credit card in AU and NZ
 

We will be traveling from the US to Australia and NZ this Sept. Happened to see on another website that some countries require a pin in addition to the chip that is now imbedded in most credit cards.
While our cards all have chips now, you do not have to have a pin for credit card purchases here in the US. Does anyone know if pins are needed in AU and NZ?

They weren't last year.

>>Happened to see on another website that some countries require a pin in addition to the chip that is now imbedded in most credit cards. <<

That is for Chip & <i>PIN</i> cards. What you almost certainly have are Chip & <i>Signature</i> cards. You will use them just like at home.

All cards in Australia are chip & pin and signatures are no longer used. However, to accomodate visitors from third-world countries with outdated systems, signatures can still be used.

Most card transactions use the paypass/paywave (NFC) function - you just hold your card close to the terminal and that's it. No pin is required for transactions under $100. If configured properly, the NFC function will still work for transactions over $100 but will prompt for the pin.

If you have ApplePay, that will work, using the NFC function. If the terminal is properly configured, no pin (or signature) will be required (for any amount). However, if the transaction is over $100, some terminals (not fully configured properly) may prompt for a pin or, in your case, a signature.

As of a year ago when we moved from Australia back to the US, signatures were still widely accepted on non-Australian issued credit cards.

EFPTOS and Paypass are wonderful things in Australia, but my understanding is that they only work on Australian issued cards, with an Australian bank account.

Credit cards with signatures are widely accepted in NZ as well.

And for what it's worth, chip and pin cards are still struggling to gain acceptance here in the US - by that I mean, there are a lot of retailers out there who still aren't set up for them, even though they were all supposed to be online back in October.

We are pretty ass-backward here in the US, no arguments there.

EFTPOS

thanks to all for the information!

The only time we had problems with our chip and signature card was at the AA gas station by the Christchurch airport. It wanted chip and PIN, and the pumps weren't manned, so we ended up getting gas elsewhere before we returned our rental car.

Lee Ann

For the unaware, EFTPOS mentioned by Melng8 is the debit system in Oz, and she is correct that North American debit cards do not work at retailers. However, you can use them at a bank ATM to withdraw cash. Fee will be $2.00-$3.00 plus whatever your bank charges. If you do go for a chip and PIN card, your PIN must be 4 digit, not 6 as I can be used here in Canada.

Will have a chip and pin debit card, but only plan using that for ATM withdrawals. Have to check with our credit cards to see if we can get a pin. Thanks again for the info. Don't know why we are lagging so behind here....I had to call and ask for a chip card from one of our card issuers.

<<Have to check with our credit cards to see if we can get a pin.>>

Don't bother. I had a chip and sign/pin card that was designed to be used both ways - as chip and sign in the US (where, unlike "first world" countries established as whites-only nations by outlaws and the dregs of the British Empire, card information theft is not a rampant means of depleting the bank accounts of the unsuspecting) and as a chip and pin outside the US so that upon first use in another country, I'd need to tap in the pin to have it work. Instead, every point of sale device in Oz spat out a receipt for me to scrawl upon.

>>Don't bother. <<

Ditto

Having a PIN for your Chip & Signature credit card doesn't change it to a Chip & PIN card -- it will default to signature. You would only use the PIN to get cash from an ATM (which you should never do unless a true emergency)

Thanks. Glad to have one less thing to attend to before we leave on our trip!

BigRuss,

:))

Two thing though:
ONE: Make sure your credit-card issuer knows (call them TWICE) about your plans so no transactions will be refused because of their security system kicking in.
TWO: Realize that your American card issuer will treat any transaction where you do use the PIN as a cash advance, invoking finance charges as of that moment! (If you find this hard to believe, as I did, call them all - I heard the same from CITI and Chase and two others before my last trip this Spring).

We were stuck at a petrol station outside Auckland airport, none of our cards worked (they all had worked before without PIN and even without signature at the pump). I went inside and the chap simply said - "just go pump and come in to pay when you're done". Wow, just like in the old days!