I will report back. I plan on calling tomorrow and asking about fees etc.

1% FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE......NO ANNUAL FEE.

Question for Dutyfree,

You say your Chase chip card has worked fine but you don't say what kind of transactions you have made. The key question is does it work in French train station ticket machines and service stations. I particularly would like one that works in French train stations. Until someone has successfully bought a train ticket in France with an AMERICAN chip/pin card I won't believe such a card exists from an AMERICAN bank. I was assured by AE that their AE Blue Card with chip would work only to get one, find out they lied and then having to cancel the account.

XYZ is correct; there is a 1% foreign transaction fee but no fee charged by Andrews FCU for foreign transactions and no annual fee. The rep I talked said that the feedback from members [military in Europe] have indicated that the cards works as true CHIP and PIN.

So, I will use my Cap One no fee debit and credit cards where ever possible and this card for unmanned kiosks.

Hope this helps.

Deb

The Andrews FCU card sounds very interesting.
I'll be anxious to hear about your experience with it.

The Andrews card is relatively new but there is really no reason it should not work as it is indeed chip and pin.

Some of the other banks, Chase, Citi, US Bank for the past few months have been offering chip and signature cards (Why they didn't want to go the whole way is beyond my comprehension but that's the direction they chose to go in). There have been very mixed reports concerning some of these cards especially in the unmanned or unwomanned places. They do seem to work on RATP and SNCF automated machines, on the whole they have been problematic with the gas stations. This is where it stands today. Tomorrow? Who knows?

Travelex offers a chip and pin card, but it's got a horrible exchange rate (really bad) to load. But no fees to spend.

It seems that there is a misunderstanding at to what CHIP and PIN really is about. A TRUE CHIP and PIN does not require a signature. It is put into a reader, a PIN is then entered by cardholder and the transaction is complete.

Most of the card that say they are CHIP cards, may have a PIN to use with it, but ultimately the transaction HAS to have a signature to complete. Very different things.

This link shows the various cards and if the require a signature. And also note, that many of the cards either are for commercial accounts or if they are for individuals, have [high]annual fees. Buyer beware when searching for cards.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...vTUMxdUE#gid=0

Debit -- Did they say how long it would take to receive it? Thanks!

As OP tagged this thread Netherlands and Belgium, one should bear in mind that (railway) ticket machines neither in NL nor in BE take any sort of credit card, chipped or not.
You either book, pay by CC, and print out ticket at home (for any connection in BE) or simply use the staffed ticket counter (NL, BE).

Local transport vending machines in Brussels take (only chipped) CCs. But at almost any station there is also a staffed desk for manual cash transactions, and all the machines also take cash/coins (usually a sufficient solution as it will only be a few euros).

ATMs take any CC/DC as long as one of the logos they sport matches your card's.
Merchants or restaurants will take chip'ed or non-chip'ed cards as well.
The only item I cannot verify is gas stations after hours.
You can hardly do THAT much driving in either country to run out of gas by accident at 3am in the morning. You would be in another country by then anyway ;-)

So in NL or BE the issue is a non-issue and not worth to get another CC.

Great table.....but as you can see, at this point in time there doesn't seem to be a chip and pin credit cardwith the correct foreign transaction fee which should be $0 alathough when it shows a 1% foreign transaction fee, they are just passing along the visa/mc fee which I suppose is justified as they do the actual currency exchange and do assume a risk of currency fluctuations which is the only possible justification for this fee.

It's kind of idiotic for both Chase and Citi (US Bank also has some chip and signature cards that I don't remember if they were listed after taking a quick glance at the table)...they are evidently better than not having a chip but still the jury is out on how many of the unmanned or unwomanned kiosks will take them in some places.

As noted with chip and pin, you insert the card into the reader yourself (no more running to a back room where god only knows what can happen) and while the card is in the reader you will be prompted for a pin. You enter it and the transaction will be completed and you get a receipt. With chip and signature, you insert the card and it ithen prints a receipt which you sign in the same way you would sign a swiped transaction say at Walmart's in the USA. In those cases say in the Lonon tube where you use a machine, no signature is required but then again the London tube machines I have used do take the antiquated American magnetic strip cards anyway and don't require a signature (just like when buying gasoline in the USA at a self service station, no signature is required.

It's a whole new world out there, that's for sure.

Just to be clear, chip and signature isn't really sufficient (i.e., better than nothing). You can't use a chip and signature card in most automated ticketing machines, in most automated gas pumps, or to pay most unattended tolls. Those are the three main uses. In most other places (with some exceptions), regular credit cards are still accepted.

The best course is just to make do with the system we have. Take cash out of an ATM (absolutely no problems there), and use your regular U.S. credit card for large purchases, to rent cars, and to pay for hotel rooms. The difficulty may be in some restaurants and small shops, but I've personally never had problems, though I know a lot of people have.

In many places you can buy train tickets from travel agents, which will save you a trip to the train station and help you get the best deal (I've done this quite successfully in both France and Italy).

Thank you Doug

A lot of people do buy those Travelex pre-paid chip and pin cards (you can get them at booths in most international airports ... just look for the signs or stop at the Travelex exchange booth to ask). It might be worth paying $20 to put $100 on a card just so you can use them for tickets, tolls, etc.

To me, it's a huge hassle to apply for a brand-new credit card, and it affects your credit rating. The Travelex card, when considered solely as a travel convenience tool, is worthwhile.

Citi has one. Unsolicited, they sent me a new card for my MasterCard account with the claim that it was the first/only card with a chip available in the U.S.

And I have been able to use it on European sites for which my other cards have not worked (e.g. Trenitalia).

wayfinder....if you used the card online for trenitalia, it wouldn't know it's a chip card and not a magnetic strip card so I assume it was just your lucky day that it worked (not trying to be negative am I). If you're in Italy, tyhat's another story. However, they were not the first.

No, they didn't say how long it would take. I will post when it gets here.

I think there is much confusion here [and pretty much on all discussions on this topic] between a card that simply has a chip in it and requires a <i>signature</i> and one that is a TRUE chip and pin that <b>does not require a signature</b> and that only leads to more confusion about these cards. And using a chipped card for an online transaction is really no different than using a card without a chip, since you don't enter pin or sign for online transactions.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the US Bank card I used in France last fall worked both as a chip and signature card and as a chip and PIN card not requiring a signature. It also works as a swipe and signature card. It worked in every automated ticketing machine we tried, and at some unattended toll booths with neither signature nor PIN. It never worked in a fuel pump, but others have reported that even some chip and PIN cards from European countries other than France don't work in those.

Much needs to be done to make credit card transactions easier across national boundaries, but for now I am glad to have this card that works well a lot of the time.

DebitNM - Sorry, I'm just getting back to this post! The bank with our chipped cards is RBC. Now, our is the US RBC, but it may be that because it is (was) RBC, that's why we have the chip. Now that it's converting over to PNC, I'll let you know!