PIN for Credit Card Question

[San10s]

Do I really need to put a PIN on my credit card??? :confused:

 

I'm about to leave for a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Emerald Princess. I have 2credit cards that I am bringing and both are chipped cards (& no foreign transaction fees) but do not have associated PINs.

 

I had researched a couple of months ago whether or not to have one of them with a PIN. After reading many points of view, it seemed pretty split on the subject. So now I am checking in one more time to see if anyone has recently returned from the Baltics with any new insight.

 

Thank you in advance! :D

[RocketMan275]

Why not contact the bank who issued your credit card?

[canuck13]

We live in Canada where chip and pin cards have been the standard for years. We travelled to the Baltics last year and we were able to use our card everywhere. Our American friends did not have a PIN and there were numerous times we had to come to the rescue with our card.

[RocketMan275]

There are several law suits involving large merchants and credit card companies.

 

For example: Home Depot’s lawsuit, filed Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, points out that consumers who use Visa and MasterCard cards at a register are asked to verify their identity by signing their name, instead of typing in a personal identification number (PIN). Signatures can easily be forged, the new lawsuit says, and cashiers aren’t trained to decipher the messy scrawls that most shoppers employ.

 

Home Depot alleges this causes them to pay higher fees. Essentially, the credit card companies don't want to slow down transactions waiting on pin verification.

[msmoger]

I have not recently returned from a Baltic cruise, so I can't provide a very recent experience. However, as long as you notify your credit card companies prior to leaving (to insure they authorize your charges when you're overseas), you should not have any issues when the transaction involves a person. They generally have the ability to swipe the card. You might run into problems if you're making a purchase from a vending machine (such as buying transit tickets in subway and bus stations). However, I personally have not had any issues with machines either. Of course this is my experience. I doubt anyone can guarantee what will happen with you. I personally wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

I'm sure someone with more recent experience will chime in. Have a Great Cruise. You're going to love the Baltic ports.

[lisiamc]

I have not recently returned from a Baltic cruise, so I can't provide a very recent experience. However, as long as you notify your credit card companies prior to leaving (to insure they authorize your charges when you're overseas), you should not have any issues when the transaction involves a person. They generally have the ability to swipe the card. You might run into problems if you're making a purchase from a vending machine (such as buying transit tickets in subway and bus stations). However, I personally have not had any issues with machines either. Of course this is my experience. I doubt anyone can guarantee what will happen with you. I personally wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

I'm sure someone with more recent experience will chime in. Have a Great Cruise. You're going to love the Baltic ports.

 

They shouldn't have to swipe the card. In a transaction involving a human, the machine should read the chip and spit out an extra bit of paper for signature. For automated machines where no human is available to authorise a signature, a chip and signature card may not work.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I just returned from two plus weeks in Europe, one week of land touring on our own using trains and rental car, and the second week on a river cruise. I carried two chip credit cards, an AMEX and a Master card, both of which I used extensively throughout Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, including at automated train ticket machines in Switzerland, and no transaction ever required me to enter a PIN.

 

I did, as others suggested above, call both credit card companies prior to departure and advised them of the dates I was traveling out of the US, and the countries I would be visiting.

Edited July 5, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[WatchHill]

In the US, we don't have the same chip & pin cards as are those issued in Europe. PINS associated with US cards are most likely for cash advance - at 24% or more, thus making your CC are debit card......don't do it!

 

I have a Barclaycard, world travel elite, that it a C & P, not a debit card. Once activated when I arrive in Europe and make one signature purchase, it has been successfully used at kiosks and works just like a C & P. So far, I've never had a problem with this card, though I've read that some people have.

 

I used my ATM for local currency when I arrive in Europe - the US bank I use does not charge any fees out of network, and the exchange rates are favorable. Be sure to notify your CC company and bank if using an ATM, of your upcoming travel. Both DH and I use different CC's, just in case one of us encounters problems.

 

You'll be fine with the chip & signature card.

 

Darcy

[FraudBroad]

Do I really need to put a PIN on my credit card??? :confused:

 

I'm about to leave for a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Emerald Princess. I have 2credit cards that I am bringing and both are chipped cards (& no foreign transaction fees) but do not have associated PINs.

 

I had researched a couple of months ago whether or not to have one of them with a PIN. After reading many points of view, it seemed pretty split on the subject. So now I am checking in one more time to see if anyone has recently returned from the Baltics with any new insight.

 

Thank you in advance! :D

 

I've just returned from an 11 day Baltic cruise on the Regal. Not once in any of the countries that we visited did I have to use a PIN. They were ALL chip and signature.

 

I used my card in Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Germany, Russia, Finland and Sweden without ever entering a PIN number.

 

But do make sure you notify the credit card companies that you are traveling.

 

Have a great trip!

[jimgri]

My experience has been different from most of the posters above. I live in the UK where chip and pin is the norm when making purchases with debit and/or credit cards. I travel regularly in Europe, most recently in Scandinavia, and have had to enter a PIN every time I have used my credit card. I guess it's possible that the card reader recognises whether you have a chip and pin card or not and offers swipe if this option isn't available, but as most of the evidence suggests that chip and pin is more secure than swipe and signature based transactions, I know what I would choose.

[AZJerry]

I don't believe it's up to the user as to whether it's chip and signature or chip and PIN. It's the choice of the issuing bank, probably based on the home country. Prior to our trip to UK, Germany and Czech Republic last fall, we specifically made sure we added PINs to our chip and signature cards, explaining that the PINs were for our upcoming trip. Not once did we need a PIN.

[moki'smommy]

My daughter was living in London, so I spent a significant amount of 2014-2015 in Europe. I was using a Chase Sapphire card which is chip enabled and specifically intended for international travel.

 

I never needed anything more than the card and signature. The difference was that if my daughter used her card from her British bank account, she would do the pin and never need to see a cashier. Because my card was not pin enabled to their system, the cashier would have to come over and obtain my signature. The card was never rejected in any country.

[FritzG]

At the train station in Rotterdam last fall the kiosks wouldn't take a credit card without a pin.

[RVRoadie]

Just remember, if you are asked for a PIN when using your credit card, it means that you are getting a cash advance, and will be charged interest from the date of sale, with no grace period. Do you really want to take out a loan for a cup of coffee?

[VibeGuy]

Chip cards when presented to a chip reader negotiate through the available forms of authentication. If the card prefers signature (like most in the US), and the terminal prefers PIN but has a printer, the card wins. One of the available options is "no authentication required" - so a low-value transaction that would prompt a chip and pin card for a PIN may prompt a chip and sig card for nothing at all.

 

The only issue you may experience at a retail location is a merchant who doesn't have any paper in the printer, but the transaction has already been approved. It happens in smaller shops used to PIN authentication.

 

The two corner cases: gas pumps and ticket machines - if the pump/device insists on PIN and your card doesn't have it, and the transaction value is above about $25, it will be declined. This can be very frustrating when you are trying to fuel a rental car in Sweden, for example.

 

Some US issuers allow you to set a PIN for chip and PIN on a signature-preference cars - Barclaycard is among them. There is no mechanism for a foreign transaction at a retailer to turn into a cash advance, so that should not be a concern. Setting a PIN *and having a successful chip and sig or no-validation purchase from a chip terminal after you do so* works great to set these cards up for success.

[broberts]

Just remember, if you are asked for a PIN when using your credit card, it means that you are getting a cash advance, and will be charged interest from the date of sale, with no grace period. Do you really want to take out a loan for a cup of coffee?

 

Is that true of all chip cc in the US or does it depend on the card?

[Colo Cruiser]

Last Med land/cruise trip I made sure the cards i took had pins assigned to them.

I also notified the CC company the dates we would be out of the country and the countries we visited.

[Colo Cruiser]

Just remember, if you are asked for a PIN when using your credit card, it means that you are getting a cash advance, and will be charged interest from the date of sale, with no grace period. Do you really want to take out a loan for a cup of coffee?

 

Other then an ATM I was never asked for a PIN when using my card in 5 different countries for coffee/snacks/meals/souvenirs etc. :confused:

[Shih-tzu]

May depend on the bank, may depend on the card itself.

 

I think there are different banking/card implications depending on the country of issue. Here in Canada if we use our VISA or MC and it asks for a PIN, it does not mean cash advance (unless you are using an ATM to get cash as opposed to paying for a purchase). The PIN is in lieu of a signature. My card requires a PIN, but I believe once a transaction is over a certain amount, signature is also required....but not sure if that's a card rule, or a merchant's rule....I've had it happen twice but I don't use my card a lot..... (and Walmart won't take VISA in Canada very, very shortly)

[joybook]

I'm not sure what the situation is with the use of overseas credit cards in Australia, but in Australia we no longer have signatures for credit card use and you must use a PIN. That is unless it is for a fairly small amount - I think less than $100 then you can most times just get away with tapping the card on the reader and not even have to put in your PIN.

Edited July 6, 2016 by joybook
last sentence added.

[Aussieflyer]

Not the OP's itinerary, but for those visiting 'down under' chip and pin is the only accepted method for credit card transactions in Australia. This came in in 2014. For amounts under $100 you can pay wave which does not require a pin but anything over that does. Debit visa or master card will provide cash from ATMs without this being considered a cash advance. We use these overseas all the time for cash and the CC for purchases, hotels etc.

I know when we were last in Norway back in 2010 we needed a pin for the credit card that was being used there.

[Kartgv]

I'm not sure what the situation is with the use of overseas credit cards in Australia, but in Australia we no longer have signatures for credit card use and you must use a PIN. That is unless it is for a fairly small amount - I think less than $100 then you can most times just get away with tapping the card on the reader and not even have to put in your PIN.

 

Is this recent, since January? If not, it must be different for overseas cards, as we used our chip/signature card in Australia and New Zealand in January without problem - in hotels, restaurants, and shops.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Kartgv

[Lucky TGO]

Better to be safe then sorry :eek: it is wise to be careful and protect yourself against risk. Call your CC company and see what they tell you.

Tony

[joybook]

Is this recent, since January? If not, it must be different for overseas cards, as we used our chip/signature card in Australia and New Zealand in January without problem - in hotels, restaurants, and shops.

 

That's interesting because I am pretty certain the change for us would have been well before January - at least last year sometime.:)

[caribill]

Do I really need to put a PIN on my credit card??? :confused:

 

I'm about to leave for a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Emerald Princess. I have 2credit cards that I am bringing and both are chipped cards (& no foreign transaction fees) but do not have associated PINs.

 

I had researched a couple of months ago whether or not to have one of them with a PIN. After reading many points of view, it seemed pretty split on the subject.

 

In the USA, most cards issued with a chip are chip and sign cards. They do not have the capability to do a chip and PIN transaction.

 

Some Cards issued in the USA (and the Princess Visa is among them) do have chip and PIN capability. Although you can usually use these as chip and sign in the USA, overseas a chip and PIN card might (not sure) only be accepted if you have a PIN.

 

So you will need to ask the bank which issued your card if it has chip and PIN capabilities. If so, better get a PIN.

 

(By the way, I have been told that if you have a chip and sign card but the machine still asks for a PIN, 0000 might work.)