Do US Chip and Signature Cards Work at Unattended Gasoline Pumps and at Toll Booths?
 

We'll be driving in Brittany in September. My chip and signature cards worked just fine 2 years ago in Paris at stores, restaurants, and the Metro. Has anyone actual real life experience with c&s cards on the road?

It is not the French banking system which decides. It is your own bank. It all depends on the "risk" your bank is willing to accept for using a card without a signature or pin. Since contactless cards are generally accepted for amounts up to 30 euros in France, if your card has the contactless function, I don't see why it would not work for at least that amount.

For me, they have worked on 95% of the toll booths, and about 5% of the unattended gas stations.

Stu Dudley

Unattended? I wouldn't count on it. I mean, yes, it will probably work, but if it doesn't you're up merde creek and stranded at a toll booth with a whole lot of irate French people honking at you and waiting for the official toll guy to finish his sandwich poulet crudités and stroll out of his faraway booth and rapid-fire you insults in French. Makes for a funny story in hindsight, but not so chuckle-worthy in the moment.

Is there a reason you can't get a chip and pin card? It's pretty easy in the USA these days, and they are usually tied to credit union accounts that have no fees for international transactions, so win-win.

You've got plenty of time to open an account with a decent credit union that will cause you absolutely no issues with money matters in Europe.

I asked the question since I do have the time to access one of the very few chip and pin providers. I do have a card with contactless properties. I'm glad it could work at gas pumps for at least some amounts. Has anyone confirmed that a foreign contactless card will work at a gas pump? Will a contactless card work at toll booths?

You'll tell us after your trip. :unsure:

I have had 100% success using my chip & signature card (a PenFed Visa) at unattended gas stations. However, PIN entry is indeed required to complete the sale. I can also purchase a monthly Navigo fare (about 75€) at SNCF kiosks which also require my PIN.

As kerouac states, this is entirely a function of the parameters set by your card issuing bank.

I can't say I have seen a contactless terminal at a petrol pump. The limit you can pay with them is low - only €30 normally, which won't get you much fuel.

No, there are no contactless service stations because one needs to buy petrol for higher amounts. Toll booths just read the magnetic strip of bank cards and never use a PIN so once again, it is up to your bank to accept the concept or not.

It worked on an unattended pump when we had to fill up on a Sunday on the côte d'azur. I think that the cards generally work in unattended situations, with no code and no signature. I was told that the code on my chip & sign card was only to use the card to withdraw money from an ATM.

There is a no verification limit on most cards issued by US banks. However, purchases I have made above this limit, for example up to 100€ for fuel, have always been accepted by PenFed as long as I enter my PIN.

If the cards work at an unattended station, of course there is no signature. There is no one there to accept the signed receipt. However, many US issued cards will not allow charges above the no verification limit set by the bank.

According to the personal accounts and experiences of many other posters, few pay-at-the-pump locations accept chip & signature cards unless the card issuing bank sets up their CVM (card verification method) to accept such payments. Again, few US banks will accept charges above the no verification limit, typically $50 or about 40€.

Last fall our credit cards worked fine, without entering pin numbers, at all toll booths in Brittany.

Nope, no luck with a chip and signature credit card at an unattended gas station in France. I didn't have a PIN on that card. The Debit Card with a credit card logo and PIN didn't work either. My brother specifically opened a French account and got a European credit card because of problems with all of their US cards. (They have a second home there so I guess it's the easier solution having a permanent address there).

However I did have 20 Euros Cash remaining and asked the person behind me at the pump if they would mind paying on their card and accepting my cash. Fortunately they were tourists, and kindly agreed. I was actually in line during the posted attended hours, but the blasted employees decided to close the booth while they were apparently counting out their cash drawers. They opened back up just as I was pulling away. Typical French BS!

I had no problem using the card at supermarkets, with a signature.

By the way have you read what the customs lines were like for Eurostar travelers today?!! You may have bigger problems than getting gas, LOL>

I did some Google-foo and discovered that there are two kinds of chip and pin cards from the few US providers of chip and pin. One type has the pin stored on the card itself. This kind should work just like a European chip and pin.

The other kind has the pin stored on the bank's computers. If there is no connection between the sales point (typically a gas pump) or the connection fails, the charge is denied. Apparently, if the pin can be changed without using the card, the pin is on the bank's computer instead of encrypted on the card's chip. Some banks encode the pin onto the card only after you set it up and try to do an online purchase that gets denied for lack of correct pin; then you try the purchase again to activate the downloaded pin and all is fixed. I have no idea how this can work because the chip is not read when you buy online.

A further complication is that almost every US credit card that can be chip and pin defaults first to chip and signature which has to fail before a pin is requested by the sales software. Some chip and pin sales points are not set up to handle this, denying the charge. Chip and pin primary cards are seriously rare. And the pin has to be stored on the card, of course.

This is too many wheels within wheels for a fast easy accurate solution. Customer service reps have no idea what you are talking about and/or make up the answers. Technical details are not usually found on line either. Bah!

Anyone more techie than I am should feel free to offer solutions.

When this has been asked before Andrew has recommended getting some Credit Union card that supposedly works.

My suggestion is to just keep an eye out for attended gas stations, and fill up when you see one!

Again - don't worry about the toll booths. Just worry about the gas stations. Find out where the attended gas stations are located near you. A few pointers:
- Never wait until a weekend to fill up on gas . Many/most are closed on Sundays, & Saturdays can be hectic
- Gas stations on Autoroutes are attended (don't know about 2:30am), and open on Sundays.
- Cheapest stations are at grocery stores, and usually attended. But they often close for lunch. I think only 1 out of our last 100 fill-ups has had problems & we had to pay in cash.
- Obviously, tell your CC issuer that you will be in France.

Stu Dudley

I had same experience as mlgb? above.
Chip/sign chase wouldn't work on toll road. Worked fine in restaurants.hotels etc.

Wouldn't work at weekend man-less gas station.
A 50Euro note on the gas nozzle and a see-voo-play worked great.

Re: the ceiling on payment 30 euro limit doesn't go far on a 95 euro (~13 gallons) fillup.

Just need three gas stations.

I have two "true" CHIP & PIN cards for travel, one through the Andrews Federal Credit Union and one through the United Nations Federal Credit Union; each required that I join something or other at a nominal fee. I don't know if cards issued by either FCU to new members have the CHIP & PIN, but you might check.

Good luck!

Andrews has gone to signature before pin, as far as I can see.