Need advice on credit cards
 

My husband is traveling in southwest France at the moment. Normally, we use our U.S. debit card and AmEx card a lot when traveling in France but admit have not been there (other than Paris) for two years. He is having no trouble withdrawing euros from ATMS with our debit card BUT in small shops and restaurants in particular,vendors want smart cards. So, they won't take our debit VISA or our credit mastercard. The only card we have with an embedded chip is American Express Blue and of course the French are not major fans of American Express so few places will take that card. I talked to our Visa and Mastercard vendors and they both have no plans for issuing their cards with smart chips. Does anyone know a Visa or Mastercard vendor who does? We don't see any other workaround other than having to increase our use of ATMS for day to day cash. (This happened once last year in a co-op grocery in North Yorkshire but the checkout clerk was obliging and hand-keyed our numbers in--I can't see the French being that cooperative.) We are going back to France in August for two weeks when the French will be even less obliging with the influx of tourists then. Thanks for any advice and I don't mind sarky remarks if I've missed something obvious.

Sorry, but i don't even know what a "smart card" is! I travel to Europe frequently, just came back from France, Italy and Spain and in no place I went to , small or big, I had a problem using my regular CC. In a couple of places they asked for an ID , and I showed them my driver's license and they were fine with it.

The non-chip credit card should work just fine. They don't work in many un-staffed ticket machines or gas stations. But they should work just about everywhere else. Perhaps those small shops/cafes are either too lazy to run the charge through the card reader, or maybe they have a € threshold you have to meet before they accept a cc.

In Italy in January as used credit cards everywhere - supermarkets, etc. with no problem

even the automatic machines, like in Italian train stations, seem to take them, unlike in some countries

We have never had a problem in France, but we used mainly cash from the ATM's when we were there in 2007. My husband, however, had a lot of trouble in Denmark in 2007 and all of the people at his company who travel frequently in Denmark have continued to have trouble using credit cards there. At first they were told that they needed a "pin" number. They got their "pin" numbers, but it didn't help. They are able to use the cards at most hotels and large restaurants, but not at smaller places. I'm thinking this will become stardard every where in Europe at some point. Since we mainly stay at B&B's, gites, and small hotels, we use mainly cash anyway. And we don't like the 3% conversion on credit cards. So it works better for us to use cash.

And we don't like the 3% conversion on credit cards. So it works better for us to use cash.>

my ATM bank charges the same 3% plus a $5 transaction fee - thus it's better for me to use credit cards whenever possible.

I think most cards and ATMs have similar charges but you may have an exceptional way to get cash

The only place I've been unable to use my Mastercard or Visa cc in southwest France is at gas stations that are part of supermarkets.

And I'm dealing with small shops and restaurants out in the boonies all the time.

I can understand them not taking a debit Visa, but a cc should work just about anywhere. I should add that I've been amazed at the number of places that will take Amex, too.

Thank you all for your replies thus far and I welcome other input. Just talked to my husband again and he's had mixed results--he confirmed that after hours at gas stations you are out of luck without the newer cards. In researching the Visa web site here, very few visa banks issue smart cards at this point--Wells Fargo does and I might apply through them as we have our mortgage with them. I'm also having mastercard send me the pin for that card as I haven't needed it before. I agree with the writer whose husband had similar experience in Denmark--this is the direction it's going and Europe will be ahead of us. Thanks again.

seems like some european bank should be courting the American tourist business with providing them credit cards for automatic machines, etc.

Questions? Why not use a debit/check card to acquire cash? Then deal in cash? Cash can often discount local charges. Credit cards are just that...pay later. The merchant pays for the credit cost!

We do use ATMs in Europe to debit our US checking account more frequently than we use credit cards but want the flexibility and option of a credit card and the safety of not carrying a lot of cash.

PalenQ - As long as I use BofA's partners, I don't have an ATM charge. The conversion fee at an ATM is 1% for Advantage customers. BofA has recently started charging a 3% conversion fee for debit card use at point of sale. So, of course, I would use the credit card if I were buying something (same fee). But, like I said, we mainly deal in cash anyway -we usually stay at small B&B's and apartments that only accept cash.

Sounds like you spend a lot of time in France, or at least the Continent. Why not get a French bank account with a corresponding Visa debit card?

In Paris, we have used our Capital One VISA card successfully about 40 times and only had two cafes where the monsieur insisted their machine could not swipe it.

We recently had a similar problem trying to use a Visa and Visa Debit card at an unattended gas station in Normandy. A very kind gentleman not only agreed to use his card in exchange for Euros, he even pumped our gas for us. The only other problem we incurred was at a small cafe in Brittany where my card didn't work.