Credit cards in Great Britain

[2ashevillesailors]

We are on a cruise this July. We are planning on taking the train to Harwich, I am concerned about our credit card. Do you have to have a card with a chp and a pin? Some countries require it. Have read some say no pin is required and some say no problem with a card with a magnetic strip. Thanks, Mary

[LHT28]

They seem to be a problem with non chip cards for the automated machines

Just buy your ticket with the ticket booth using a "real" person

[Keith1010]

As mentioned it won't be a problem buying the ticket at the ticket booth.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

We used our card fine last summer in England. The only snag was when buying train tickets you had to go to a manned booth or use euros in the automated machine.

[DeloreanGirl]

We used the Capital One Venture card and it was amazing. No issues with the chip & pin, accepted everywhere, and best of all no foreign transaction fee. :D

[MATHA531]

There is no country in Western Europe where magnetic strip cards are not, in general, taken. There mayt be scattered merchants here and there who don't want to take the antiquated American credit cards but as of right now, it's not a big problem.

 

In the UK, it's virtually a no problem. Americans make up a large part of visitors to the UK and almost all merchants are familiar with how to swipe an American credit card in their terminals. Again here and there you might find a problem and be a bit inconvenienced, as noted, by not being able to use automatic machines but there are not all that many problems in the UK, yet, in using magnetic strip cards.

 

However, you can easily get chipped cards. The Bank of America travel rewards visa card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, a not so great rewards program alas alas but it has the emv chip (althought is is chip and signature rather than chip and pin). Several FCU's in the DC area also offer chip and pin cards as does USAA.

 

I gave a long explanation in another thread in thistopic.

[dolittle]

I don't think we have a chip card (how do you know ) and our card worked in the automated machines every time.

[Globaliser]

I don't think we have a chip card (how do you know) and our card worked in the automated machines every time.

The chip is visible on the left hand side of the front of the card, and looks like the one above the digits 4539 on this sample card:-

 

 

Some automatic machines will take non-chip cards by reading the magnetic stripe, just like the machines used when you're dealing with a person. But some machines will only accept chip cards, and then a card with a magstripe alone will simply be spat out again as if it were your library card or supermarket loyalty card.

[tanzanite]

I had a big problem at Gatwick returning home to US my Bank of America travel rewards card did not work in i do not have a 4 digit pin so most machines wouldnt take it for my trip this time im going to phone to get one i had a call from bof a fraud department when i got home because lady in WHsmith ran it 3 times declined it has chip but need code many restraunts had a problem also i called them before i left but didnt know would be problem glad i had cash or would of been stuck.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, it's common for European ATM's to not accept 5-number pins. I used to change mine back and forth, now I just use a 4-digit pin all the time.

[SwissDave]

Yes, it's common for European ATM's to not accept 5-number pins. I used to change mine back and forth, now I just use a 4-digit pin all the time.

 

Strange, all my cards have 6 digit pin numbers and i have never had a problem in any EU country.

[gingerpeaches]

We used our card fine last summer in England. The only snag was when buying train tickets you had to go to a manned booth or use euros in the automated machine.

 

The currency in the UK is Pounds, not Euros. I have never seen a machine that will take Euros, so best to make sure you have some GBP.

[englander]

However, you can easily get chipped cards. The Bank of America travel rewards visa card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, a not so great rewards program alas alas but it has the emv chip (althought is is chip and signature rather than chip and pin). Several FCU's in the DC area also offer chip and pin cards as does USAA.

 

I gave a long explanation in another thread in thistopic.

 

I use the B of A Royal Caribbean Rewards card and it comes with a chip, no annual fee but it does charge 3% foreign transaction fee. Consider credit cards in ATMs are considered cash advances with the exorbitant interest rates minus grace periods. Consider using your debit bankcard instead.

[MATHA531]

I had a big problem at Gatwick returning home to US my Bank of America travel rewards card did not work in i do not have a 4 digit pin so most machines wouldnt take it for my trip this time im going to phone to get one i had a call from bof a fraud department when i got home because lady in WHsmith ran it 3 times declined it has chip but need code many restraunts had a problem also i called them before i left but didnt know would be problem glad i had cash or would of been stuck.

 

It sounds more like the repeated attempts to use the card triggered a fraud alarm but I wouldn't swear to it.

 

The fact is I was last in London in February and had no problems using my Bank of America credit rewards card everywhere (for the record it is a card B of A issued to holders of the late Charles Schwab credit card and is grandfathered, at least for the time being, with no foreign currency charge and the 3-2-1 reward structure). Bank of America cards are all chip and signature and they do not issue pins for use of the purchasing portin of the credit card; pins are used for ATM withdrawals of cash which as pointed out is not a wise thing for the most part because of high fees (but in a pinch, I do have a credit card where I can withdraw cash from an ATM with no fees although interest runs form the moment the cash winds up in my hands but while it is a high 24% a year, that amounts to 2% a month and in an emergency, if I immediately make a payment against it via a bank transfer, the interest amounts to pennies a day).

 

In any event, I am surprised about the difficulties you had with the chip and signature card. Ive never had any difficulty with mine.

[Towncar T]

Just note also that American Express cards are not widely accepted here in England.:)

[Cotswold Eagle]

I)

In any event, I am surprised about the difficulties you had with the chip and signature card. Ive never had any difficulty with mine.

 

Tanzanite mentioned restaurants - often the server will bring a chip and pin machine to the table and it may be that they didn't know how to swipe?

[Cotswold Eagle]

Just note also that American Express cards are not widely accepted here in England.:)

 

I think that needs a little qualification - I use an AmEx card here, probably for 90% of my transactions. Most large hotels & restaurants, major shops, car hire, petrol stations and travel companies (e.g. Rail tickets) take AmEx. More likely to find it not accepted at smaller operations.

 

I would agree that one should not rely on an AmEx, without checking first.

[MATHA531]

Tanzanite mentioned restaurants - often the server will bring a chip and pin machine to the table and it may be that they didn't know how to swipe?

 

Almost all the portable terminals they bring to my table have both a chip slot and a place to swipe the card. Like I said, I'm surprised there was more than an odd merchant or two who didn't know how to process magnetic strip transaction; maybe just plain bad luck. For the time being, I haven't come across any places where there was any difficulty in using magnetic strip cards but that's not to say such places don't exist. But they're few and far between, IMHO.

[Globaliser]

Just note also that American Express cards are not widely accepted here in England.:)

I think that needs a little qualification - I use an AmEx card here, probably for 90% of my transactions.

I agree with Cotswold Eagle. I also use Amex for the vast majority of my credit card transactions here, and it's relatively uncommon to find a place that won't take it.

[tanzanite]

Almost all the portable terminals they bring to my table have both a chip slot and a place to swipe the card. Like I said, I'm surprised there was more than an odd merchant or two who didn't know how to process magnetic strip transaction; maybe just plain bad luck. For the time being, I haven't come across any places where there was any difficulty in using magnetic strip cards but that's not to say such places don't exist. But they're few and far between, IMHO.

Iam going on a cruise in September and hope i dont have same problem because the lady at airport Wh Smith couldnt take my card because no pin said her machine wasnt equipped for it. the duty free shop was ok it was annoying as i had to pay over 100 pound cash my last i had to buy magazines chocolate my kids wanted me to bring for them i dont know how much cash i will take hopefully enough not to have a problem

[skisteamboat]

You can get chip and signature cards at many banks and credit unions in the US. Never had a problem, the machine just spits out a slip to sign if you don't have a pin. It did it automatically whenever I used it.

 

I used my stripe card in bank ATM's with no problem either.

 

There is one place I know of that will not take stripe only cards under any circumstances and that is the Dutch railway system. Even the manned booths will not process stripe only cards. I had to get cash from an ATM to buy a ticket from Schipol to Amsterdam before I got a Chip and Signature card.

 

Cheers

[themnms]

We used the Capital One Venture card and it was amazing. No issues with the chip & pin, accepted everywhere, and best of all no foreign transaction fee. :D

thats the one we use also!!

[MVPinBoynton]

I am leaving for England in 9 days, so I want to make sure I won't have a problem with my cards. I have requested my credit card company to send me one with a chip. For the debit card I use from a different bank, I have not requested a new card with a chip. Will I need a card with a chip to get money out of an ATM?

[Girr]

In using your debit card you'll not need a chip and pin-you're current card is fine. As a heads up a lot of ATMs key pads are only numeric. So if your pass code is a name/word make sure you know the numeric equivalent.

 

Also, if your new card doesn't show up before you leave-you're current credit card will normally work. For the most part it's only self serve kiosk you can't access. What I've experienced is to make a sale employees are trained to get it done. Now in outer areas instead of chip issues what I run into is "our machine isn't working". I make a point to have enough cash to pay for the current meal or gas purchase. However, for all major purchases I've never had a problem.

 

Barbara

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks so much. I can quit worrying now. :)