Comments on: The End of Cards as We Knew Them?

By: ns

ns — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:47:32 +0000

I concur. MA and V require merchants to have facilities to accept all valid cards with the MA or V logo on them. The swipe is the default but they can so choose to also add a chip & PIN and/or contactless. But swipe facility is required in order to me authorized to accept MA V AXP and others. I suspect this is more a case of uninformed cashiers.

By: Aidan

Aidan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:10:48 +0000

If faced with a refusal to accept a “non Chip and PIN” card by a merchant, (a) shop somewhere else, or (b) ask the merchant to call their bank (the acquirer) and confirm if they can accept the card.

Visa and MasterCard have strong “accept all” policies – if the merchant displays the brand, they *must* accept all cards with that brand, regardless of the technology.

By: Frequent Traveller

Frequent Traveller — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:47:08 +0000

Looks like Travellers Cheques aren’t so obsolete after all. TC’s don’t expire and are still excepted on a global basis to this day and in reference to the comment above, I’m pretty sure American Express are now the only issuers of travellers cheques around the world.

By: Jon Marler

Jon Marler — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:49:58 +0000

Chip & Pin sounds great, but it just causes the fraudsters to change tactics. Fraud in the UK is up, and Chip & Pin has had no demonstrable effect on it. It’s that simple.

The way around these restrictions is to carry an American Express, and use cash. You can withdraw cash at any ATM in the UK, without an ATM fee from the UK bank. American Express has different rules, and requires the merchants that accept the Amex card to accept a non-chipped card. I only ran into one bar that absolutely refused to take my Amex, and in that case, I just used cash. My bank doesn’t charge me a foreign currency conversion fee, or an ATM fee, so having cash wasn’t too much of an issue for me. I didn’t like carrying around so much cash, especially with the draconian UK laws regarding personal defense, but you do what you have to do.

I travel to the UK twice a year, and have done so since 2001. The near-field chip cards are starting to take off in the UK, and my new Amex has a near-field chip in it. I haven’t tried it across the pond yet, but I’m hoping that will bridge the gap and take away some of the hassle.

And to reply to the commenter above, it’s not possible to get a “dual standard” card in the US. Trust me, with as many trips as I make to the UK, I have tried! The US issuers are now starting to issue the near-field chip cards, which are the “latest” in technology, which I am hoping will bridge the gap. With near-field taking off, Chip-n-PIN is now old hat.

By: Jason Hurlbut

Jason Hurlbut — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:02:27 +0000

I have a better idea… let’s move all of these card credentials to the phone so we don’t need to decide which cards to bring with us… we know that we are bringing our phone!
My Canadian Amex card and swipe debit card have not been refused at any of the merchants I frequent in London and I am there about 1 week per month.
(The debit is only used to withdraw at ATMs) However, Chip & PIN is well on its way here, north of the border. The U.S. may become an island!

By: Brian Greener

Brian Greener — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:28:52 +0000

It must come as a surpise to those in the USA to discover the rest of the world has moved on – this is not just the UK and France!
Surely the answer is for the USA to come up to date and start to use chip cards. This would reduce fraud globally and allow the rest of the world to use their cards if they travel to the USA.
If the US wants to stay with old technology, get a dual standard card, we all have them in the UK