Do I really need my credit card PIN?

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

 

If you need to feel your CC is better than everyone else's, then feel free to do so.

 

I wasn't aware that we were discussing which card was better. I really thought that the discussion was about that it's difficult to get a card with chip and pin in the US which can be used everywhere.

 

It sounds like Kevin think that a card which can't be used almost everywhere is better than a card which can be used almost everywhere. Now I agree, I obviously don't understand. 

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

If we want to list the things EU feels sorry for about Americans and vice-versa the list will be very long. Both have their pros and cons. Not sure what at all that does to educate anyone. But feel free to continue the discussion with whoever wants to have it with you.

 

I feel sorry for you about that.

 

I did not say to him that I'm sorry because I wanted to argue with him. I did it to be nice.

 

I really wish that it was easy for him to get the kind of cards we can get here because it makes travelling easier.

[alyssamma]

1 minute ago, sverigecruiser said:

I did not say to him that I'm sorry because I wanted to argue with him. I did it to be nice.

 

I really wish that it was easy for him to get the kind of cards we can get here because it makes travelling easier.

Fair enough...and we can agree on that 🙂 

[alyssamma]

7 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

It sounds like Kevin think that a card which can't be used almost everywhere is better than a card which can be used almost everywhere. Now I agree, I obviously don't understand. 

Yeah, I guess we misunderstood each other. And if you are from Sweden, I get it because if I tried to speak to you in Swedish there would certainly be a lot of misunderstandings 🙂

 

Anyway, yeah, having the EU style card is definitely the best - if you can get it. Unfortunately in the US it isn't that easy to do.

 

Credit Cards are always a source of confusion for US travelers - and not just to Europe. Part of the problem is that the majority of Americans don't travel, so there is little pressure on the US banks to change things. With competitors like ApplePay and AndroidPay popping up, that is starting to change, but it takes a long time to change in the US.

 

I would say the percentage of Americans who travel outside of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean is 20% or less. So upgrading our entire infrastructure for such a small percentage is hard for the banks to justify.

 

it will change...it will just take some time 🙂

 

 

[sverigecruiser]

3 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

I would say the percentage of Americans who travel outside of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean is 20% or less. So upgrading our entire infrastructure for such a small percentage is hard for the banks to justify.

 

 

If it's close to 20% it's still lots of people so the banks really should upgrade the infrastructure.

 

More and more places in Europe don't accept cash so they really should upgrade.

 

Sweden is the worst place if someone wants to use cash instead of cards. For example IKEA in my hometown don't accept cash and lots of other stores and restaurants are also cashless.

[alyssamma]

5 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

If it's close to 20% it's still lots of people so the banks really should upgrade the infrastructure.

So, this is an example of where capitalism isn't always the best 🙂 Even those 20% that travel, the vast majority of them have no problems - I would consider myself one of those. It has been a few years since I was in Sweden, but when I was there I didn't have any problems. Last year I was in the Balkans, Switzerland, France, Benelux, and England...no problems there either.

 

What this means is, I'm not going to go through the hassle of getting a new card to fix a problem I currently don't have (and it is a hassle because of all of the bills and payment methods (e.g., PayPal) I have tied to my card). So the number of people actually complaining is very small. So there really isn't any incentive for them to change.

 

5 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

More and more places in Europe don't accept cash so they really should upgrade.

 

Sweden is the worst place if someone wants to use cash instead of cards. For example IKEA in my hometown don't accept cash and lots of other stores and restaurants are also cashless.

Yeah, so things like this will make the banks change. Once enough people cancel credit card A (which isn't chip and pin) and switch to B (which is chip and pin) then things will change. But that will take some time.

 

Here is something funny to show you how hard it will be to change. In New York City they just passed a law *forcing* merchants to take cash as a form of payment. It may sound very strange to you, but there is a very logical reason. Many people in America can't get any type of credit card - they don't even have bank accounts so no debit card either (this is because of the poor credit situation in this country which is another topic altogether). So those people (of which NYC has many) are unable to buy goods and services without using cash. Google apps like "Earnin" or google Pay Day lenders and you'll start to understand the scope of the problem here...