Credit card CHIP in Europe
 

Does anyone know of any USA credit card that has a chip implant that works in Europe? We would really like to have a card that works there if only for "emergencies."

What solutions do some of you have for this problem? I know you can carry cash but sometimes for example, in getting gas when there is no attendant (lunch break, etc.) there is no one to take your money.

Thanks and happy travels.

Even if you have a US Chipped card (CAP One have one now I believe) many automatic petrol machines and the like will only accept credit cards from that country - so not even other European CCs.
The answer to that problem is to make sure you fill up on plenty of time.

Your US CC can be swiped and used as you would in the US in shops and other places.

Nope: not yet, although there are chip cards in Canada (at least one bank is issuing them).

For Americans, there's no good solution yet unless you have a friend to lend you a chip card, as we did.

Otherwise, about all you can do is fill up on gas during hours when stations are open. And write your band demanding that chip cards be issued! Maybe if enough of us do that we'll have chip cards by the end of the decade.

I know US chip cards do not work now. Did not know that the card has to be from the specific country. One other problem we had was in a parking garage where we had to leave very early one morning before the attendant was on duty. We were told we could put coins in the "machine" so we had them. WRONG. No place for coins, only credit cards and it had to have that chip. Fortunately for us there was a "panic" button and someone spoke to us through a speaker and just let us out when they realized our problem. We shudder to think what could have been our fate - missed flight home when there were already air strikes going on. Just was hoping for a solution just in case some other "problem" arose.

I believe some American Express cards have chips. You could call them and ask

Hi Av,

The Amex Blue card has a chip, but it isn't the kind of chip that the European CCs use and doesn't work.

I tried it.

((I))

U.S. Bank is now issuing chip and pin cards for its FlexPerks Visa Signature accounts.

http://www.nfctimes.com/news/us-bank...face-emv-cards

I will check out US Bank. I know Amex doesn't work. We have that card and even called them. Thanks to everyone.

If you want a card only for emergencies you could look into the Travelex Chip and Pin card-- it seems to be basically a preloaded debit/credit card that is supposed to work anywhere a chip and pin card would work in Europe. The downside is high transaction/currency conversion fees but I am not sure if you pay those if you load money on for an emergency and then cash out when you get back home.

>>>
there are chip cards in Canada (at least one bank is issuing them)
<<<

As far as I know all banks and credit card companies here in Canada having been issuing chipped cards for a couple of years. There must be very few old cards left.

mimipam, I don't know where you live but if you're within an easy drive of Canada a Canadian bank will open an account for you... you need your passport and another piece of photo id.

news article today on bing.com/travel about some banks adding this for about $95 a year - will keep a check on this

Paris, I live in Texas - too far to drive up to Canada but that would be a good idea for those who can

If US Bank and Chase begin issuing cards with chips, let's hope other banks will follow!

I had another purchase rejected in Cornwall due to no chip card...

I wrote to AmEx, Chase and Citi to ask about EMV chips on the cards, and got virtually identical patronizing replies telling me how I could use magnetic strip cards at retail establishments in Europe. All three were oblivious to the problems of using toll booths, automated ticket dispensers, out of hours fuel stops, or other unattended machines.

BTW, EMV means European MasterCard Visa. I don't know if these cards would be acceptable outside of the Euro Zone.

<i>BTW, EMV means European MasterCard Visa.</i>

EMV means Europay, Mastercard and Visa. Europay has been part of Mastercard since 2002 meaning that MC and Visa, US based companies, are developing this technology which is becoming the world standard and not just in Europe. Basically only the US has no plans to adopt this system as both Canada and Mexico are making/have made the change.

The US Bank card is an enhanced EMV card with which one will be able to simply wave the card over a reader rather than having it read by contact.

Still the news is good as more and more banks issue these cards. (Chase already has an EMV program as does Silicone Valley Bank.)

There is little to no issue using American credit cards in Europe. You are worrying about nothing and the ability to get a chip and PIN card should be very low on the list of criteria in choosing a card.

As noted above, the systems within Europe don't always talk to each other (my Danish card does not work in the UK, for example) and many of the problems attributed to chip and PIN issues are really down to the fact that the terminal accepts only local debit cards, and do not accept credit cards.

This is the most overhyped non-issue aired on this board. Hand your card to the cashier, tell them it doesn't have a PIN, and watch it work.

According to this article, the new U.S. Bank cards will combine three technologies: Magnetic stripe, EMV chip, and Visa payWave to enable wide use internationally.

http://www.pymnts.com/u-s-bank-first...-travelers-br/

I'm planning to try to get one before we go in September.

Travelgourmet , if you will re-read my posts you will see how I have had problems NOT having a card with a chip. I am not worrying about nothing when I am "trapped" in a parking garage with no way to pay to get out. This caused high anxiety. I agree it is not usually a problem.

Generally no issue, most businesses have the ability to accept a non chip card and print a receipt for you to sign as you do state side. You will run into the odd vendor who is not knowledgeable enough to manage this, but it is rare. There are a few instances on French autoroute and at gas stations where you can run into issues, but if you use a site such as this you should be able to anticipate and troubleshoot (ex: use cash, not park in a garage where there is no attendant, buy gas during daytime business hours etc!)
The importance of pre planning and ensuring you have options cannot be under estimated when traveling...it is also part of the fun!

As it does with many other things, the US is technologically inferior to much of the rest of the world. Slowly but surely, the EMV cards are becoming standard. I just got back from a month long cruise through Scandanavia and a couple of days in Paris and 2.5 weeks in Britain and Ireland. I wasn't driving a car and had no problems using my outdated USA cards. Merchants always knew what to do. I had two fights over dynamic currency conversion which is a scam you have to watch out for, especially in Ireland. One, at Burger King believe it or not, was not resolved. I finally marked the sales slip local currency not offered and have requested a charge back. It's not a lot of money but it's the principle of the matter.

Anyway, for the most part, right now today, 02 July 2011 it's not a problem. Howevever, there is a movement within the eu to allow merchants and banks to refuse to accept non chip and pin cards. How long it will take effect and how many merchants and bankis will follow it is a question.

But none of this has spurred the US banks to get off their rear ends and begin meeting the needs of their customers. There is no reason even if they don't want to convert all US merchants to chip and pin (and terminals are constantly being updated and many retailers such as Wal-mart now have chip and pin terminals), there is no reason, none whatsoever, why they can't issue credit cards with both magnetic strips and chip and pin and if they want to charge what it will cost as an option (perhaps 50¢, that's fine). But their attitude is summed up by what a Capital One rep told me when I called to complain, all visa merchants are mandated to accept all visa cards worldwide regardless of whewther they are magnetic strip or chip and pin. We'll see what happens when the eu legislation takes effect. (Incidentally you may know know but European emv cards also have the magnetic strip so they can be used in the backward countries that don't have emv cards right now).

Incidentally, the cards being issued by Chase and Wells Fargo are not universal, just for their most expensive credit card accounts and are not chip and pin but rather chip and signature. Yes they will have the emv chip (which in theory can't be cloned) but will not have the pin. You will still have to sign the receipt.

We just got back from Sweden, (July 2012) and still had a problems with a no chip card. We had an early train to catch out of Uppsala, no sales agents open yet, and the machine would only take a chipped card. Luckily our Swedish friends were with us and used their card, or we would have missed many connections. But it made me feel like a bum, who "forgot" his wallet. Also had the same trouble with unattended gas staion earlier, and minor problems elsewhere. Thought I had planned enough, but missed this chip issue, that was not a problem 2 years ago. Shame on me!

Another old thread re-opened but there is good news which we pointed out in another thread...

Bank of America (I know it may not be one of your favorites nor is it mine but) has announced a whole bunch of cards it will now issue with the emv chip automatically (or upon request). It would seem the best of the lot is the travel rewards card. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Rewards are not the best but you can read the list of rewards. So you might wish to get one and have it just in case.

Bear in mind that these cards like most US cards that have been issued with emv chips are chip and signature not chip and pin but in many instances they do work in some (but not all) machines looking for a chip card. I can't guarantee you it will work the next time you're in Sweden, we're still learning the just how useful these chip and signature cards are but I don't see a down side to getting the dard (no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee) and having it just in case.

And yes I notice the thread is over a year old (you might have done better starting a new thread).

I am glad this old thread was opened since I am the orig poster and noticed the update. Thanks for the info xyz

Andrews FCU [which anyone can join] has a true chip and pin card. There is no annual fee and they charge a 1% foreign transaction fee.

I have one and will test it out next month in France. It has been reported here and on TA that the card does indeed work well.

Apply way in advance of going. I got mine this past spring and had it in 10 days. Now, it is taking quite some time - I am guessing they have been flooded with requests.

http://www.andrewsfcu.org/credit_car...k_rewards.html

On other blogs, it has been reported State Department FCU which anybody can join is also offering a chip and pn card, no annual fee and no foreigntransaction fee.

I'm xyz123 and I approved this message.

I used the Andrews card in France in June and it worked fine.

A few things to note.

If the vendor has their card reader programmed to accept either pin or signature this card will default to signature.

So when I tested it in a restaurant several times sometimes I was asked to enter a pin and other times a slip was printed and I had to sign.

However, when I walked up to a train ticket vending machine in Avignon it worked fine and asked me for a pin.

Also, in Paris I tried to use my regular swipe card in the Metro station to but tickets and it wouldn't work. However, with the Andrews card the transaction went thru fine. AND DID NOT EVEN ASK ME TO ENTER A PIN.

I didn't care about transaction fees or any of that stuff. I just wanted a card that would let me avoid lines.

We just returned from a month in France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Iceland, carrying a supposedly chip&pin card from Bank of America, obtained through AAA. The first time we tried to use it, at an autoroute tollbooth outside of Nice, it was completely rejected by the automatic toll machine. In restaurants and other places, the machine used by the waiter/clerk required a signature every time, even though BofA had given us a PIN number and we had changed that to our own number. No human clerk ever seemed to have a problem processing the signature; it just wasn't an issue. But we had to be very careful about not needing to buy gas on a Sunday, as most stations were closed. I will be letting BofA and my local AAA office know about this, and will cancel the card once I pay the bill.

See my response in the other ancient thread above.

cdaslick: See my post on the other thread where you posted the same thing . . . Despite what BofA and AAA may have said, that is a chip & Signature card - not chip & PIN . . . .

Supposedly the Master Card issued by USAA is a Chip and PIN card, although I can't find confirmation of that on the USAA website.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-...,1732345.story

I have a TRUE chip and pin card issued by Andrews Federal Credit Union. It defaults to signature IF there is a human processing the charge. The only place we had issues were at "Certain" toll booths, it worked in the majority of the booths. Worked at train ticket kiosks, unattended gas stations, restaurants, shops, etc flawlessly. No charge to use, no foreign fees. A great card.

I also have the Andrews FCU chip card. It did not work in toll booths in Provence, France.

Correct, Basking, that was where we drove and used/attempted to use the card. We had about a 50/50 success rate which wasn't good. Caused a few anxious moments, until we just carried enough cash to pay.

Pay cash while on holiday? What is this, the 20th century??

In all seriousness, there have been a very few complaints about using the Andrews card (or PenFed or SDFCU) that you have no control over how the pos terminal processes it i.e. if the pos terminal takes chip and signature, some merchants (again emphasis very few as of now) refuse to process the transaction as there is some question in their minds regarding liabilities and you can't make the pos terminal revert to chip and pin. Not a major problem right now but not really my definition of true chip and pin (although as noted it does work the way intended at most kiosks!)

I have experienced no hesitation on any merchants part to accept a pin & signature card. I have had both restaurants and hotels, usually outside of Paris, flatly refuse to accept my magnetic strip credit cards.

PenFed works everywhere I have tried it (I always pay cash on autoroutes) but it is a pin & signature card except at kiosks. The USAA Mastercard functions everywhere I have tried it and the pin was used for all transaction; never a signature required.

I can remember reading no specific complaints about the Andrews card being anything other than a pin & chip.