BarbWire

I've searched for this topic but have not found anything very recent. Sorry if this is redundant.

I want to get a proper chip-and-pin credit card prior to my Europe trip in September to pay at unattended gas stations, toll booths, and ticket kiosks (eg, Netherlands). In my trip to Italy and Spain in December I had mixed success at train ticket machines with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card.

What are the cards that folks are using for this? I've read about Andrews Federal Credit Union, and that *some* Barclay's cards and *some" Bank of America card may work as offline chip-and-pin cards .... or not....

Thanks!

Myer

I've been using an Andrews card for quite a few years.
It's a signature priority card. That is, if you are in a restaurant,etc you'll be asked to sign.

Also, I've had some issues with it in Italy.

In France I have been more successful. In the Paris Metro I've been able to use it to buy tickets from the vending machine.
In French train stations I've been able to use it to buy tickets at the vending machine.

Would I like something that works properly everywhere? YES.

Then again, the U.S. might be the only country that insists on using Chip & Signature cards.

Andrew

I can recommend the Andrews visa card as well - used to have one, dumped it only because my regular credit union got a chip and PIN credit card so I switched to one of those. I used the Andrews chip and PIN card at several machines in Europe where my chip and signature cards would not work (e.g. to buy train tickets in the Netherlands from machines). There is no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. On the downside, as I recall, the rewards program on the Andrews card wasn't anything I found useful. I used my regular chip and signature cards wherever possible and the chip and PIN Andrews card only when needed.

Another bonus of joining Andrews FCU is that you can open a checking account and get a debit card that will work as an ATM card for $0 use per fee and 0% currency conversion fee. There is a one-time $5 fee to join the American Consumer Council (ACC) for a year to be eligible to join the credit union but well worth it in my opinion.

greg

Netherlands is a tough country to get around if you need to use unattended ticket machines. Even manned national rail ticket counters, if you can find one, require CHIP and PIN cards (or cash, but no signature cards.) I use a First Tech Credit Union MC. It is a CHIP and PIN card. Never failed in Italy, France, and oh yes in Netherlands. If I could buy train tickets at Amsterdam Centraal using a ticket machine, it was a good indication it would probably work anywhere. I was never asked to sign a slip with this card in Europe. It always uses PIN authorization in Europe.

kja

I have, and have successfully used, true CHIP and PIN cards from both the Andrews FCU and the United Nations FCU, each of which is rather easy to join -- but do make sure you explore the options that YOU have for specific cards from these (or other) companies, as IME, the options available differ from card to card and from time to time.

Sarastro

Chip & PIN cards are hard to find in the US. I have heard that Andrews now has one and they are available at a number of credit unions. I have used a PenFed Visa for a number of years. It is a chip & signature card but it generally works everywhere I have every tried it in France, including at pay-at-the-pump gas locations (I must use its PIN however). I would absolutely love to have a chip & PIN card but my PenFed card has no fees (no annual, transaction, nor currency conversion) and actually returns 2% cash on all purchases, including purchases made outside of the US.

I believe Australia uses chip & signature cards, possibly Canada as well. With chip & PIN cards, transactions are must faster (no on line authentication) and there is nothing to sign.

For now I am pleased with my PenFed chip & signature card which offers wide European acceptance.

kja

Several of us have already noted, on this thread, that we have such cards from the Andrews FCU, and have mentioned other options....

bvlenci

... my PenFed card has no fees (no annual, transaction, nor currency conversion) and actually returns 2% cash on all purchases, including purchases made outside of the US.

How does this work? They must be making money somehow. Do they require you to maintain a large balance, or use other services?

Sarastro

Banks potentially make huge profits from credit card users. It makes a lot of sense to avoid the bailout banks and support local banks and credit unions where you´ll pay a lot less for services.

PenFed charges credit card users nothing and makes no ancillary demands or establishes no minimum balance requirements. PenFed can do this because many people carry notable balances on their credit accounts and pay sizable amounts each month in interest charges.

I should like to thank these people for allowing me to bank at no cost.

bvlenci

Is there a required minimum balance to have all these free services and 2% reimbursement? I never heard of a Robin Hood bank. Most offer free services to the rich and make their money socking it to the poor.

Heimdall

Bvlenci, although these days they offer much the same services, banks and credit unions are different types of financial institutions. Credit unions are member owned, and many of the accounts mentioned in this thread are with credit unions.

Macross

Andrew, thanks for that info. I asked my husband and he just has the credit card and savings with them. He needs to step it up for that atm card. I love credit unions. I have a money market account with a regular bank with 0 foreign fees but my husband does not so am on him to get the Andrews one. We are retired military and think you have to be that or Fed worker to get the Penfed card.

tom_mn

I'm a little surprised to read some replies, it's standard practice in the US to refund 1.5% of purchases to the card holder (it comes from the +2% they charge the merchants). These higher deals like 2% are usually short term or certain things only (like gasoline) but maybe this card is different.

Can't a debit card always substitute for a chip and PIN credit card? That's what I do at an unmanned kiosk when the chip and sign card fails. That works, rather than again getting another credit card to add to the pile. You may have a hold (like $185 for pumping gasoline!) but it goes away.

hetismij2

Yes a debit/ATM card will work, provided it has the Maestro logo on it. In fact that would work in most shops and cafés too where credit cards are not always accepted.

Macross

Yes, my debit cards work everywhere but all but one charges a fee. Not a big deal for many but if exchange rates are horrible on the day it makes me feel a bit better. I.18 today, It was around 1.25 last trip in the winter. I always take two debit and two credit cards when travelling. Normally only use one but others are for back up,

My husband went to use his card and it was refused it at three atms. Dummy had brought his old card after activating his new one. He was lucky I had money and after a call to our credit union they let him use the old one.

Andrew

FYI, Andrews FCU just recently retired their "ATM-only" card that I used for a long time. You could get this card with just a savings account - it wasn't a "debit card" just an ATM card (no purchases, worked only at an ATM), but it had no chip - I'm sure that's why it was retired - I think the ATMs will start requiring chips in a year or two. Now you need to get an actual debit card (with a chip), and for that you need a checking account, not just a savings account. Probably not a big deal but an extra step and extra account to get.

lolfn

We had two different cards from Barclays that had the chip/pin. One was the AA card (originally USAir) and the other LLBean. Bean is moving to Citi or Chase this month, neither of which offer the chip/pin. We also have a cash back card from Bank of America that has the chip/pin. We'll be using that when needed on an upcoming trip. Downside is there are foreign transcaction fees vs none on our Chase and Citi airline cards.

bvlenci

Actually, Tom_mn, a lot of us live in Europe, so I don't know why you're so surprised that we aren't familiar with the provisions of American credit cards.

I do have an account with an American university credit union, and I used to have an account with a different university credit union. Neither one was very economical. The only reason I keep the account I have now is that it's a joint account with my daughter, who teaches at the university. I'm the only active user of the account, but it's convenient for both of us to have this joint account.

kerouac

France has one of the lowest Vias/MasterCard commissions in the world -- generally about 0.30 or 0.40% -- so card payments are almost never a "moral" problem for merchants, even though you will find some who set the minimum at 7 or 15 euros (based on the old days of 50 or 100 francs). Actually, when the euro took over, lots of the main shops, the metro, the SNCF and other things lowered their limit to just one euro due to the fear of "ordinary" people of spending a currency that they did not understand. Card payments increased just because people didn't understand the cash anymore.

Anyway, that is a long time in the past. In the meantime, the EU made it illegal for any country in the Eurozone to charge anything extra for any cash withdrawals or payments, since it was the whole point of the euro in the first place. (Before this decree, there were certain countries who thought they could get away with charging 1% for "foreign" transactions.)

The EU has been a wonderful thing for protecting our payments and preventing places from cheating us. Too bad about the UK leaving, but that's their problem. Since the currency has already lost 20% in value, I guess they are willing to lose even more.

tom_mn

Well, the Discover Card introduced the rebate concept (1%) over 30 years ago and it has since spread to most cards, so the concept has been around for ages at least for US residents.

I often read why Americans are frustrated that the US is "behind" and has not incorporated chip and PIN technology. This aborted roll out story of chip and PIN at Target stores in the early 2000s says why, surprisingly it was the much lower crime rate (fraud) in the US vs Europe meant that the technology didn't pay for itself fast enough, i.e. not offsetting enough losses from fraud.

https://money.cnn.com/magazines/busi.../09/01/379524/