>>>>
the USA where the banks don't really give a damn about credit card crime
<<<<

if you are the victim of CC crime or other causes for overcharging, you should hope that it is on a card issued by an american bank rather than a european one. it is much more difficult and stressful for a customer to sort out a fraudulent or "honest mistake" overcharge with european banks as compared to american ones. american banks generally place the burdon of proof on the merchant rather than the customer.

this is according to well known reality in the banking industry as well as personal experience with both systems.

a travel agency mistakenly charged 6 people's tickets to my UK diner's club account. the ticketholder's names were on the CC statement (different surnames from my own). the CC company (citibank UK) responded that it is "between you and the merchant to sort out" and that "the amount due is the amount due" (no consideration on the due date of these charges). this would not happen with a US card company...charges would be suspended pending investigation.

likewise, a company once put a hold on my UK card and forgot to release it. i think it was for a hire car deposit or something like that. basically, the CC company said that they could do nothing (even though the hold was placed 2 months prior). charges could be refused until i "sorted it out with the merchant". cc company took no responsibility to help sort it out...even after i made several attempts to get the hold reversed (company kept saying that they did not charge me anything-did not understand concept of holds). finally, in disbelief, i asked the cc bank if anyone could just put a hold on my card in any amount for any length of time and there is nothing i could do to dispute it...the answer was "yes...it's between you and the merchant."

finally, if there were a business case for US banks implementing chip and pin, it would certainly be done....especially since US banks put themselves on the hook for fraudulent charges more than european banks do.

We are Canadians who spend our winter in Florida - the epitome of tourism. Certain gas bars require the entry of our zip code to gain approval before use of our credit card. Since our Florida zip code is not attached to our Canadian credit card our zip code does not work and there is no provision to enter a postal code. The result is we must pay in advance by seeing the attendant (often a line-up). Sounds like a similar problem to what chipless credit card owners face in Europe except cards with chips are available by Americans. What do we do - avoid Shell and Pilot gas stations. You would think that, especially in Florida, they would figure this out.
BTW - we were issued a chip credit card years ago by our Canadian Visa.

Very strange..perhaps it depends on lacale.

I just returned from the UK and used my non chip CC all over the place..hotels, restaurants, petrol stations, hire car, rail tickets and it was never denied.

I guess the credit card companies here in the U.S. will never learn. I saw this article on msn this afternoon: New credit cards allow hands-free theft The cards' embedded radio-frequency tags make purchases as easy as a wave of your hand. But thieves with a scanner could steal personal data right through your back pocket.

Go here for the full story: http://tinyurl.com/yb2mr9

Hi T,

>The cards' embedded radio-frequency tags ....thieves with a scanner could steal personal data right through your back pocket.<

Not really.

The card is a passive device. The scanner sends out a signal and receives a signal back.

Range is about 4 ins if there is nothing between the scanner and the card,

You can completely protect the card by wrapping it in tin foil, if you are concerned.

((I))

Does anyone know where I can find deep technical information about smart cards?. I'm doing a report for the company I'm working for.
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Smith

<a href="http://www.smart-card.com">smart card</a>