ATM pin numbers - how many PIN numbers?
 

Checking for my niece. Do ATMs in London take cards with 6 digits PIN numbers? I remember from years ago you needed to have a 4 digit PIN number. Any idea about EU countries?

I don't know I use four digits at ATMs across Europe. But mainly I just "contact" and I don't really use cash.

I don't know I use four digits at ATMs across Europe. But mainly I just "contact" and I don't really use cash.
Perhaps your niece uses a phone wallet.

We recently visited friends in England and knowing they had always been keen to get credit card rewards, I asked if they’d like to pay with their card and I would reimburse them in cash. To my surprise they declined, saying like Bilbo, “don’t really use cash anymore.”

I’m from U.S. and have only ever had 4 digit PINs, which work beautifully across Europe.

Last month we used our 4 pin number in France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

It used to be that as long as the 6-digit PIN didn't begin with zeros, it would work; but in traveling with someone who had a BoA account with a 6-digit pin, the card didn't always work in ATMs. Can she go to her bank and get it changed? They say it will work, but it doesn't always unless she can find a partner bank in the country she is visiting.

I will say that I don't use cash as much as I used to but it's nice to have some on hand.... Apple Pay or some other touchless system is what we mainly used.

Trophywife007, my niece's bank is BoA and they told her a 6 digit was fine too. I hope it will work. I have a TD bank acct and 4 digit PIN always worked in the past. Bilboburgler, I don’t really know what “contact” is. I’ll ask her if she has a phone wallet, whatever that is!! Thanks everyone.

I'm sure they did say that; I have BoA with 6 digit pin and my experience and my travel companion's experience say differently. Maybe things have gotten better over these last few years. I got tired of all the foreign transaction fees and atm fees so switched to have a different account for travel. Good luck to her. If one ATM doesn't work, try a different one until it does.

A "phone wallet" refers to a "wallet" app on your smart phone where you can load credit cards and use them like Apple Pay. When you pay with the wallet app you can bring up the card you want to use on your phone and touch it to the pay terminal, and voila, it's done.

contact or swipe is where you use your card (uses RDF type technology) to pay money without PIN. They are normally limited to say £50 or E50 a time but for stuff like public transport, normal walk about shopping they just are faster for the shop and the buyer.

the card has a symbol on it of three curves radiating out from a single point.

An American friend tried using her card with a six digit PIN in several different ATMs and couldn’t find one that worked. I would suggest that your niece open an account which has a card with a four digit PIN AND has contactless AND no additional fx fees. That will make life a LOT easier in Europe where cashless/ contactless payment is pretty much the norm. Many MRT systems will only accept contactless for travel and whilst ApplePay etc is great , I wouldn’t recommend constantly getting a phone out on trains and buses.

no need to open a new main bank account, just go for a preloaded travel debit or credit card.

Not everyone accepts Apple pay/Google-whatever-it-is-called or even credit cards.
Some places don't accept cash any more, and though that is legally dubious you can't do much about it.

In theory certain ATMs will accept a 6 figure PIN - Visa/Plus is supposed to accept six figures, whereas Cirrus/Mastercard only accepts 4. Since most ATMS combine both systems it's anyone's guess as to whether they will work or not. The PIN has to be a numeric PIN not an alphanumeric one.

The in shop/restaurant machines will accept contactless payment without a PIN up to an amount set by your bank, or with a PIN above that - but I think only a four figure PIN. Otherwise you insert the card and the chip is read and you always need a PIN for that.

Many buses and even taxis no longer take cash, for safety reasons, and may not accept a credit card.

I agree the best thing she can do is get a card with only four figures to be on the safe side, and not carry too much cash.

I rarely use cash. I have had €50 in my purse for a while now. My just in case money, should the e-payment systems go down, which they do occasionally. I give my grandsons cash as they are able to deposit it in their accounts for free. It costs money to deposit cash in an adults account here!

In the UK the contactless payment limit is now £100. I've had £10 in cash in my pocket for about a month now and not used it!

Thank you to everyone for your help. I don’t use the other payment methods here so I was not familiar with them. I see that my cards have the contactless symbol so I’ll have to try that out. Leaving for Europe today myself. My niece is only going for 3 days so I guess she will have to look into it further.