Panicking about chip and Pin

[angeleyes27]

We have been unable to get a chip and pin credit card. How much of a problem will this be? Can we pay our STB tour with our American credit card? Are there ATM machines where we can use our debit card in these ports?

Thank you.

[Illyria]

We have been unable to get a chip and pin credit card. How much of a problem will this be? Can we pay our STB tour with our American credit card? Are there ATM machines where we can use our debit card in these ports?

Thank you.

Usually ATM machines are not a problem, they'll accept American debit cards. Credit cards are hit and miss since it depends whether the merchant has the machine that accepts non-chip credit cards. We did discover a couple of years ago that we couldn't use our credit cards almost anywhere in Copenhagen. Shouldn't be a problem with your tour operator, though.

[CruiserBruce]

Check with your tour operator as to whether or not they take American credit cards. Chances are very good they will.

 

Have spent almost 100 days in all parts of Europe over the last 5 years. Have had my US credit cards rejected less than 10 times. Best way to avoid rejection? Don't try to charge less than 20 euros. Particularly in small shops.

[Pet Nit Noy]

We have been unable to get a chip and pin credit card. How much of a problem will this be? Can we pay our STB tour with our American credit card? Are there ATM machines where we can use our debit card in these ports?

Thank you.

 

When a human handles your financial transaction, you are likely going to have no problem at all. You'll be out of luck with swipe and signature if you're going to be doing any transaction from an unmanned kiosk (e.g. at the subway, parking lot, highway toll booth). Since your destination will be St. Petersburg and you're likely not going to be traveling about independently, you're unlikely to encounter any of the unmanned situations I've just described.

 

Now, having offered reassurance, there are some rare occasions where the card reader equipment for a store/restaurant/museum entry/etc. can't read a US-style signature card. However, if you have any credit card with a chip -- even if it is chip and signature -- the transaction will go through just fine.

 

Finally, we tourists are caught up in the current political situation between the US and Russia and that is occasionally creating difficulties paying for purchases. There are some Russian banks that are currently barred from doing business in the US. Not surprisingly, Russia has retaliated by preventing some US banks for doing business in Russia. This is a different issue entirely from the chip and pin one! Nevertheless, it impacts visitors ability to pay.

 

Visitors would have no way of knowing whether the bank that processes a particular Russian vendor's credit card transactions is or is not one of those frozen banks. Happily, my understanding is that the major St. Petersburg tour providers are using banks that are working just fine for tourists. Ask your tour provider this question directly if you have any lingering questions about this specific topic.

 

If the answers you get in this thread are not sufficiently reassuring, you might want to do a search on other boards. This chip and pin questions gets discussed endlessly.

 

As for ATM use, the answer is "Yes, you'll find ATM machines in port." However, you'll get better answers if you specify which ports you're asking about.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Pet Nit Noy

[buggins0402]

Our hotel in Copenhagen had difficulties with sign CC's. From what I could gather is that they had a machine that could handle non pin cards but it wasn't working. So at check out the line was very very long because so many had CC issues. We had prepaid so no issues.

 

We had no issues with ATM's - so we just used cash everywhere we went and had brought sufficient dollars to pay St. Pete tour company in cash. CC's did not appear to be a problem for Alla however.

 

In Stockholm the Travel Information in the train station could sell whatever ticket you needed with whatever card you had - including mag strips.

 

We did have an issue at disembarkation in Stockholm. No Krones, no ATM and taxi CC reader was pin. Driver accepted dollars (exchange was fair).

Edited June 27, 2014 by buggins0402

[SparkleBee]

don't panic! on my recent trip I was only unable to use my non-chip card a couple of times. usually you will be able to use them.

[KirkNC]

I can only think of one time we could not use our regular card and that was at a Paris train kiosk. ATM's will work fine, make sure your bank has you setup for international transactions (also alert your credit card provider), you will be fine.

[M_J]

We did a Baltic cruise from Copenhagen in May. We had a problem purchasing the Copenhagen card in the airport. We have 2 US chip cards and they are both 'chip and sign', not 'chip and pin'. I think we confused the person behind the counter b/c it was a chip card that required a signature. We also had an issue at the Netto supermarket, but the hotel, restaurants and cabs had no problem.

 

We used Alla Tours and there was no issue with anyone's US card. There was an additional charge to take pictures at one of the museums. We gave the tour guide rubles - and they gave us our change in dollars:).

 

Margaret

[mauimary]

We paid SPB tours with a credit card just two weeks ago. It was not a problem.

[FolsomMike]

FYI for Chase Sapphire Preferred card holders- I just called them about my pin and signature card and inquired about getting/using a pin number. I was told "don't give out your pin number" and that the only use a pin number would have would be for a cash advance with very high fees and interest.

[buggins0402]

FYI for Chase Sapphire Preferred card holders- I just called them about my pin and signature card and inquired about getting/using a pin number. I was told "don't give out your pin number" and that the only use a pin number would have would be for a cash advance with very high fees and interest.

 

This is my understanding ....someone correct me if I'm wrong. With just about any CC you can get a pin for cash advances (at a high interest rate and fees when you use it this way). The pin technology they have overseas (and with the Andrews Federal Credit Union CC) is for a security layer and does not trigger a cash advance.

 

I'm still trying to determine if the Barclay's Access Card has a pin (seen references that it does) and that the pin is for security and will not treat a transaction it is used for as a cash advance. In other words that it is like the Andews Credit Union card which is both chip and sign and chip and pin, defaulting to chip and pin when the merchant (or kiosk) has no way of getting a signature.

Edited July 1, 2014 by buggins0402

[deniuh]

We just returned from Europe on Friday. We used a Capital One and Wells Fargo cards. They donot have a chip so every time we had to use them like debit cards and enter the pin. We were in Stockholm, Iceland and copenhagen. A few places swiped without issues but for the most part we had to use a pin. Good luck!

[Travelanni]

This is my understanding ....someone correct me if I'm wrong. With just about any CC you can get a pin for cash advances (at a high interest rate and fees when you use it this way). The pin technology they have overseas (and with the Andrews Federal Credit Union CC) is for a security layer and does not trigger a cash advance.

 

I'm still trying to determine if the Barclay's Access Card has a pin (seen references that it does) and that the pin is for security and will not treat a transaction it is used for as a cash advance. In other words that it is like the Andews Credit Union card which is both chip and sign and chip and pin, defaulting to chip and pin when the merchant (or kiosk) has no way of getting a signature.

As a European to whom American visitors have complained many times about not being able to use their magnetic strip or chip and signature cards in some situations I have been following this, and previous threads on the same subject, with interest.

It seems that there is a lot of confusion, firstly as to why we have the chip and PIN technology and secondly how and where it works.

 

It is simply, as quoted, an extra layer of security designed to combat credit card fraud and is now in use in the majority of developed countries.

 

The PIN (Personal Identification Number), like the signature, is a way of ensuring that the card is being used by the person to whom it belongs. However, unlike the signature, it does not require a human to use their, sometimes imperfect, judgement and compare signatures. The PIN is known only to the card-holder and verified by technology. This is a much more secure verification both for the card-holder and the vendor. Many vendors have machines which accept both types of card but as the signature cards become less common so do these machines and vendors who will not accept cards without a PIN are not being unfriendly or difficult, they are just moving with the general trend in Europe and most of the rest of the world to make card fraud more difficult. Machines where there is no human presence, ticket machines, gas pumps etc. do not accept cards without a PIN.

The security is enhanced by the fact that the PIN is not 'given out' as stated in the advice of one bank, it is known only to you and punched into the machine by you. Your card never leaves your sight. In fact many vendors in Europe insist that you put the card in the machine, punch in the PIN and remove the card, they never handle it.

 

I cannot comment on the way fees etc. are handled by American banks as all banks have different rules but, going by the comments of regular travellers, having a credit or debit card with a PIN for larger purchases and withdrawing a small amount of cash from an ATM for incidentals like restrooms etc. is the way to go.

 

Do not rely on anyone in Europe accepting US dollars or any currency other than that of their own country (Russia - Roubles (RUB), Britain - Pounds (GBP) , Denmark - Krone (DKK), Sweden - Krona (SEK), Norway - Krone (NOK), rest of Europe - Euros (EUR) ). Many places catering to tourists or close to borders do accept other currencies but using the local currency adds to the travel experience and is certainly more courteous.

 

I hope that this helps.

 

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Travelanni]

 

Do not rely on anyone in Europe accepting US dollars or any currency other than that of their own country (Russia - Roubles (RUB), Britain - Pounds (GBP) , Denmark - Krone (DKK), Sweden - Krona (SEK), Norway - Krone (NOK), rest of Europe - Euros (EUR) ). Many places catering to tourists or close to borders do accept other currencies but using the local currency adds to the travel experience and is certainly more courteous.

 

The first part of the sentence should, of course, read 'Do not rely on anyone in Europe or Scandinavia' etc. and further down 'rest of Europe plus Finland and Estonia'

Sorry for the slips and apologies from this European to my Scandinavian friends and neighbours.

Anni, :)

[the_princess]

In Denmark you'll need a pin in most places. Some will be able to swipe your card and use signature, but make sure you mention that you don't have a pin before they swipe the card.

[Badger-Badger]

We just returned from Europe .... specifically the Catalonia region of Spain. We ran into a few places unable to process an American magnetic credit card at all .... and a few where I had to explain ( in my poor Spanish) how to use it. We quickly learned to have cash on hand just in case.

 

It was not an issue in Barcelona but it was out in the villages and some of the smaller cities. We encountered several people who asked where we were from because they has never seen an American style card before! While this lead to delightful conversations with very lovely people I do wish the US would get with it and phase in chip and PIN!

 

Keep an emergency stash of local currency for unexpected circumstances and all will be well. In the main port cities and tourist destinations it was not an issue :)

 

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[Gwa123]

As a European. if it's any consolation I have had the same problems in reverse when visiting the USA with my chip and PIN card. A lot of the retailers in the UK are also now moving across to contactless payment for small payments of up to £20 where you just touch your card at the machine to pay. It's about 8 years since we got of signature payments in the UK and personally I think it's a great thing that has significantly reduced card fraud. REMEMBER never give out your PIN to anyone else, NEVER let them put the PIN in for you. Not sure if you have prepaid credit cards in the US but that's what I use when going abroad just load them with the currency of your choice and away you go with no fees. They have a chip and PIN. You could even get one once here UK from some of the currency exchange places at the major airports.

 

 

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[Gwa123]

By the way virtually no retailers accept signature methods as an alternative to chip and PIN in the UK.

 

 

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[2ashevillesailors]

We have been unable to get a chip and pin credit card. How much of a problem will this be? Can we pay our STB tour with our American credit card? Are there ATM machines where we can use our debit card in these ports?

Thank you.

 

Told by our bank do not use credit or debit cards in Russia, can not be tracked. American Express just sent a chip and signature card. Also we have one from Chase, with no problems. Did not need a pin, just sign with the chip card.

[2ashevillesailors]

We have been unable to get a chip and pin credit card. How much of a problem will this be? Can we pay our STB tour with our American credit card? Are there ATM machines where we can use our debit card in these ports?

Thank you.

 

Probably not with Amex. You pay a deposit then the balance can be paid in cash. Check with the tour guide.

[2ashevillesailors]

Usually ATM machines are not a problem, they'll accept American debit cards. Credit cards are hit and miss since it depends whether the merchant has the machine that accepts non-chip credit cards. We did discover a couple of years ago that we couldn't use our credit cards almost anywhere in Copenhagen. Shouldn't be a problem with your tour operator, though.

 

We ordered money from Bank of America and were only able to use a chip card and sign receipt. No one would take our regular cards, as their machines don't take them. We were warned about not using credit cards in Russia by our bank and credit card company. We did use one once in a high end tourist shop that our tour guide took us to. No problems.

[MATHA531]

By the way virtually no retailers accept signature methods as an alternative to chip and PIN in the UK.

 

 

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That is pure unadulterated nonsense. I used my cards countless times in the UK this past June without once encountering any probloems and every single time, as I will explain below, I was rdequired to sign. American credit cards without chip and pin absolutely will almost universally work in the UK.

[mauimary]

We were on a Baltic Cruise in June. As per everyone's advice we did get a chip and pin card with no foreign transaction fees which we had gotten shortly before our trip. We used it everywhere with no problems. Every restaurant, shop tourist attractions etc we had to scan the card on a hand held device and we signed. We never once even used the pin and had no problems anywhere including England and Denmark. Our SPB tour was paid for with our credit card and SPB had all the tickets and admission fees for everything including the subway. We used the card in two restaurants in St Petersburg. We even stopped in a new Starbucks and used our cards as we had no cash. No problem. The couple we were traveling with also had a chip and pin and no idea what their PIN number even was.

 

We had gotten some GPB before leaving home so we did not have to use an ATM on arrival at Heathrow. We did not even use at ATM anywhere in our case. Our only money issue was when we didn't have any coins for two bathrooms and some nice ladies gave us the coins! We needed seven currencies and only exchanged two. GPB and Euros. In order to have some change we did exchange some Euros on the ship in one country after our bathroom issue and visited a store for some small item to get some change.

 

Hope this helps.

[DipBrat]

We ordered money from Bank of America and were only able to use a chip card and sign receipt. No one would take our regular cards, as their machines don't take them. We were warned about not using credit cards in Russia by our bank and credit card company. We did use one once in a high end tourist shop that our tour guide took us to. No problems.

 

This is very dated information. There is a risk of fraud anywhere, but St. Petersburg and Moscow are generally fine to use credit cards.

 

One advantage of the US backwardness is with Pin and Chip so universal I doubt they even have the old magnetic copy scam running outside of the US and maybe Canada.

[grandma*knows*best]

That is pure unadulterated nonsense. I used my cards countless times in the UK this past June without once encountering any probloems and every single time, as I will explain below, I was rdequired to sign. American credit cards without chip and pin absolutely will almost universally work in the UK.

 

I agree. I have used a simple signature card in the UK during numerous visits with no problems at all.