Credit cards in France
Aug 5th, 2012, 11:27 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Credit cards in France
I have seen so many questions on Fodors regarding the use of foreign credit cards, so I thought it may be helpful if I add my experiences to the mix.
We are currently in France, and are travelling with debit and credit cards, both with and without chips. Our cards have been issued in Australia. We make our banks aware where we will be and when, so we don't get any nasty surprises with the cards being stopped because of unexpected overseas use.
On autoroutes none of our cards are accepted - so cash is essential. One trip we had our French cousin in the car with us, and having tried all our cards in the toll machine without success, his French card worked just fine.
In supermarkets it depends on the individual stores. For instance, Intermarche in our little town won't accept any of our credit cards, but the same brand of supermarket in the neighbouring town will.
Individual stores also vary, so we've found that its impossible to rely on cards, and make sure we always carry a reasonable amount of cash as backup.
When our credit cards are accepted, a signature is always required - the option to use a pin doesn't arise. Di
We are currently in France, and are travelling with debit and credit cards, both with and without chips. Our cards have been issued in Australia. We make our banks aware where we will be and when, so we don't get any nasty surprises with the cards being stopped because of unexpected overseas use.
On autoroutes none of our cards are accepted - so cash is essential. One trip we had our French cousin in the car with us, and having tried all our cards in the toll machine without success, his French card worked just fine.
In supermarkets it depends on the individual stores. For instance, Intermarche in our little town won't accept any of our credit cards, but the same brand of supermarket in the neighbouring town will.
Individual stores also vary, so we've found that its impossible to rely on cards, and make sure we always carry a reasonable amount of cash as backup.
When our credit cards are accepted, a signature is always required - the option to use a pin doesn't arise. Di
Aug 5th, 2012, 02:44 PM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<i>ts impossible to rely on cards</i>
True. Unless you spend all of your French vacation in central Paris, be prepared to have problems with magnetic strip credit cards. Much of the new credit card processing equipment no longer is capable of processing magnet strip credit cards.
True. Unless you spend all of your French vacation in central Paris, be prepared to have problems with magnetic strip credit cards. Much of the new credit card processing equipment no longer is capable of processing magnet strip credit cards.
Aug 5th, 2012, 06:18 PM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 752
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have been told recently that AMEX cards work in the tollbooths. I hope this is so as we will be in France in a few weeks. Although we will carry cash, if there is no person in the tollbooth to collect the cash, and the machines don't accept our cards, what do you do?
Aug 5th, 2012, 09:48 PM
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bih
Our Australian Amex doesn't work, and on the roads we've travelled we've only come across one toll booth containing a real person. The machines all take cash as well as cards - there's a slot for notes, and another for coins. They also give out change.
Our cards are fine for getting cash from ATMs, so koala you don't need to travel with wads of cash from home, just top up regularly from the machines. They're everywhere over here - even the smallest of villages have them. We've come to the conclusion that almost every brand of bank has a presence in every town. You may have to hunt them out in side streets, but they are plentiful. Di
Our Australian Amex doesn't work, and on the roads we've travelled we've only come across one toll booth containing a real person. The machines all take cash as well as cards - there's a slot for notes, and another for coins. They also give out change.
Our cards are fine for getting cash from ATMs, so koala you don't need to travel with wads of cash from home, just top up regularly from the machines. They're everywhere over here - even the smallest of villages have them. We've come to the conclusion that almost every brand of bank has a presence in every town. You may have to hunt them out in side streets, but they are plentiful. Di
Aug 6th, 2012, 10:24 AM
#11
When I had an Amex card, it worked in the toll booths on all of the autoroutes that accept Amex. But there are multiple autoroute companies, and they don't all accept the same cards -- keep that in mind. They ALL accept Visa and Mastercard at the manned toll booths.
Aug 6th, 2012, 01:19 PM
#12
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 330
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have tried several times to book rail tickets on SNCF sites as I've been doing for several years using master card and each time I get message the card has been rejected. I have spoken to M/C and there is no problem with my card and they cannot help me. The message on my order stated Your Credit card has been rejected due to 3D security protection? How can this matter be solved as I prefer having my tickets to avoid long line and some times missing a train. Thanks for any advice on this matter.
Aug 6th, 2012, 06:58 PM
#13
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 752
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks, di and kerouac. I'm glad to know the machines accept cash. We'll keep cash on hand just in case we can't use the credit cards. Kerouac, do the booths accept swipe cards or only chip & pin? I think our friends had a problem getting the toll booths to accept their Visa and MC, but were able to use their AMEX.
Aug 6th, 2012, 09:14 PM
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Kerouac - we tried our Australian Amex card, along with a visa and MasterCard, and all were rejected!
Cavangal - the only time I had a problem with SNCF rejecting my card was when the card was due to expire before the date of travel. Just using a different credit card solved that problem. Di
Cavangal - the only time I had a problem with SNCF rejecting my card was when the card was due to expire before the date of travel. Just using a different credit card solved that problem. Di
Aug 6th, 2012, 10:18 PM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, we have also tried that - also with no success!
I wonder if there has been a crack down on the use of overseas cards, as we didn't have this same problem two years ago.
Perhaps all the card fraud that happens now has made everyone here a bit wary. Di
I wonder if there has been a crack down on the use of overseas cards, as we didn't have this same problem two years ago.
Perhaps all the card fraud that happens now has made everyone here a bit wary. Di
Aug 7th, 2012, 05:16 AM
#17
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am also Australian and have had similar experiences with my Visa card with 4 character PIN. I have just returned from 3 months in France and had previously advised my bank about travelling. SNCF ticketing machines and automatic toll machines I have been told do NOT accept overseas cards. I can confirm that I was unable to use my card in these situations. I asked the SNCF ticketing person and they confirmed, as Di suggested, that foreign cards are no longer accepted and this was introducted to protect users due to the high incidence of fraud.
I also had the following problems:
- unable to purchase RATP metro tickets using my card in the automatic ticket machine in Paris and also at one of the staffed metro stations. It did work however at staffed SNCF railway station counters.
- some museums automatic ticketing machines. The card worked at the automatic ticketing machine at Centre Pompidou but not in some other museums eg Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
- airport shuttle bus. My credit card would also not work twice in the machine used by the shuttle bus that I used to get from the airport to La Defense.
- automatic prepaid petrol bowsers. This proved to be a real trap when caught without petrol one public holiday and didn't realise that our card would not work in the 24/7 petrol station.
It worked at all banks where I withdraw money from the ATM and in all shops when making purchases including supermarkets. I did need to sign rather than PIN. I have bought more than 20 times SNCF tickets online (www.voyages-sncf.com) and have only once had a problem which was rectified when I tried again 24 hours later.
As a regular visitor to France, I have just spent a significant amount of time opening a French bank account to get around these issues. Opening such an account was time-consuming and frustrating and I would only recommend it if you are going to be travelling regularly to France and will be spending a significant amount of time there. Knowing in advance when the cards will not be accepted allows to plan around the situation e.g.planning to have cash, filling up vehicle in staffed petrol station or make alternative arrangements such as booking in advance online.
I also had the following problems:
- unable to purchase RATP metro tickets using my card in the automatic ticket machine in Paris and also at one of the staffed metro stations. It did work however at staffed SNCF railway station counters.
- some museums automatic ticketing machines. The card worked at the automatic ticketing machine at Centre Pompidou but not in some other museums eg Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
- airport shuttle bus. My credit card would also not work twice in the machine used by the shuttle bus that I used to get from the airport to La Defense.
- automatic prepaid petrol bowsers. This proved to be a real trap when caught without petrol one public holiday and didn't realise that our card would not work in the 24/7 petrol station.
It worked at all banks where I withdraw money from the ATM and in all shops when making purchases including supermarkets. I did need to sign rather than PIN. I have bought more than 20 times SNCF tickets online (www.voyages-sncf.com) and have only once had a problem which was rectified when I tried again 24 hours later.
As a regular visitor to France, I have just spent a significant amount of time opening a French bank account to get around these issues. Opening such an account was time-consuming and frustrating and I would only recommend it if you are going to be travelling regularly to France and will be spending a significant amount of time there. Knowing in advance when the cards will not be accepted allows to plan around the situation e.g.planning to have cash, filling up vehicle in staffed petrol station or make alternative arrangements such as booking in advance online.
Aug 7th, 2012, 08:23 AM
#18
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,984
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<i>I have just spent a significant amount of time opening a French bank account to get around these issues.</i>
That is one solution, but are there monthly fees attached to the French account card and fees attached by <b>your</b> bank to your ATM withdrawals?
That is one solution, but are there monthly fees attached to the French account card and fees attached by <b>your</b> bank to your ATM withdrawals?
Aug 7th, 2012, 09:49 AM
#19
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I recently returned after a 2 month stay in France. I had numerous problems with both restaurants and one hotel which did not have credit card processing equipment that could accept a magnet strip credit card. There was no discussion, if I had no ¨pin and chip¨ credit card, I was required to pay cash. In each case, the equipment was recently (within a year) obtained by the restaurant/hotel. This is a trend that will most likely continue and if you have not yet had this experience, you probably will at some future date.
Additionally, in two restaurants I was told that their processing equipment would no longer worked with magnetic strip credit cards in spite of the presence of a reader slot.
In total, 4 restaurants and one hotel within a 2 month period flatly refused my credit card only because it had no chip. I believe it would be foolish to assume that your magnetic strip credit card will always be accepted. Either carrying extra cash or obtaining a pin and chip credit card are the only two solutions in avoiding embarrassing situations.
Additionally, in two restaurants I was told that their processing equipment would no longer worked with magnetic strip credit cards in spite of the presence of a reader slot.
In total, 4 restaurants and one hotel within a 2 month period flatly refused my credit card only because it had no chip. I believe it would be foolish to assume that your magnetic strip credit card will always be accepted. Either carrying extra cash or obtaining a pin and chip credit card are the only two solutions in avoiding embarrassing situations.
Aug 7th, 2012, 10:20 AM
#20
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,984
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<i>There was no discussion, if I had no ¨pin and chip¨ credit card, I was required to pay cash.</i>
I did discuss this in one restaurant or store (I do not remember which) which could accept the mag stripe card. The waiter or clerk said that people did not know how to enter the proper code to by-pass the chip requirement and enter the mag stripe card without swiping it.
I did discuss this in one restaurant or store (I do not remember which) which could accept the mag stripe card. The waiter or clerk said that people did not know how to enter the proper code to by-pass the chip requirement and enter the mag stripe card without swiping it.
