Question
I've been traveling to the UK and Europe quite a bit for work, and on each trip it becomes harder and harder to use the regular magnetic swipe cards. I just received my new UA "Choices" card, and asked chase, they keep trying to send me a PULSE card. Anyone here have better luck? Oh yeah, if it has a good rewards program thats a plus!
fryfrye
Answer
Didn't you post a substantially equivalent thread in the Amex forum?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578611
The answer here is the same. No US card issuer has Chip + Pin because no merchants here have the equipment to use it. I really don't see why you're having a problem with your card in the UK. The UK requirements for Chip + Pin only apply to UK cards. For foreigners (and people with disabilities), they will continue to support signature cards for the foreseeable future. See the official Chip and Pin web site here:
http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/faqs/whyneedpin.html#exceptions
Answer
Didn't you post a substantially equivalent thread in the Amex forum?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578611
The answer here is the same. No US card issuer has Chip + Pin because no merchants here have the equipment to use it. I really don't see why you're having a problem with your card in the UK. The UK requirements for Chip + Pin only apply to UK cards. For foreigners (and people with disabilities), they will continue to support signature cards for the foreseeable future. See the official Chip and Pin web site here:
http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/faqs/whyneedpin.html#exceptions
Yes, I did. And in keeping with forum rules, that was an AMEX directed post, while this was directed at "Other" cards. Swipe is a problem in two major instances for FF travel. 1) Almost all ticket machines ONLY accept Chip +PIN, you have to wait in a line to but a ticket with swipe. 2) I dont carry a copy of the "I Love Chip+PIN FAQ" when traveling, and the policy is very unlclear to most merchants, esp once you get out of Central London.
And it never hurts to ask, thats what were all here for right?
fryfrye
Answer
I have been using a Citi Dividend MasterCard issued in USA without issue in the UK.
I get the impression that if they do not see a chip on the card, they automatically swipe it in the nifty little handheld wireless device and it prints the receipt I have to sign first, and then they check the signature matches and then it prints my copy of the card receipt after they push button to verify the match. Though I have a feeling they are never sure if the LCD screen will ask them for a PIN in which case they would hand the device over to me to enter one or if the LCD screen will ask for a signature.
They are sure to match the signatures, and I have more than once been questioned as sometimes they "feel" the signatures do not match.
I do have an AMEX card (USA) with a chip in it, but I have never been asked for a PIN, and if I were I would not know it. Going through all that India stuff to ask them to reset my card PIN is too much to handle. I have used it in the UK without swiping (so I use the chip), but the clerk always tears off a signature receipt and I again think they are never sure if it will ask for PIN or signature, but they surly support both.
credit and debit card fraud has dropped by loads with Chip & PIN technology.
Answer
I used my Amex Blue Cash (ExpressPay contactless version, not smartcard version) and a Citi Dividend card in the UK for 2 months, without any issues. Once or twice I had to show them it wasn't a PIN card, but they understood. TFL (tube people) had a different machine for signature cards than chip cards when you paid at the window, and if you used a machine you had to put the card in like a pin card and wait for it to figure out it wasn't a pin card, but other than that I ran into no issues.
The only cards I have seen with chips in them are Target Visas and Amex Blue's, but the new versions of both don't have it anymore. I really don't think it will be an issue, and if you are going to be there long enough you might want to open an account in the UK, to avoid the international transaction fees, if they allow it. (I have no idea on their banking/credit laws)
Answer
I used my Amex Blue Cash (ExpressPay contactless version, not smartcard version) and a Citi Dividend card in the UK for 2 months, without any issues. Once or twice I had to show them it wasn't a PIN card, but they understood. TFL (tube people) had a different machine for signature cards than chip cards when you paid at the window, and if you used a machine you had to put the card in like a pin card and wait for it to figure out it wasn't a pin card, but other than that I ran into no issues.
The only cards I have seen with chips in them are Target Visas and Amex Blue's, but the new versions of both don't have it anymore. I really don't think it will be an issue, and if you are going to be there long enough you might want to open an account in the UK, to avoid the international transaction fees, if they allow it. (I have no idea on their banking/credit laws)
Opening a bank account in the UK is probably not an option, the anti money laundering regulations make this extremely difficult even for resident expats