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That's because, as I was shocked to find out, most POS in the US don't ask for a PIN! Convenient indeed, until someone gets ahold of your card.

codegeek 9y ago
Almost all credit cards are 0 liability to the consumer. Even if someone gets a hold of my card, I can call the credit card company and get all fraud charges reversed. That's why I personally always use a credit card EVERYWHERE. I hate cash and I hate to wait in lines. But sure, they have an electronic trail on me which frankly, I don't care too much about. If the Govt wants to get you, they WILL get you.
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  "Almost all credit cards are 0 liability to the consumer. Even if someone gets a hold of my card, I can call the credit card company and get all fraud charges reversed." That's true only if you or the credit card company notice the fraudulent transactions and act on them within the limited grace period, which I believe is something like 3 months. Many people don't actually keep their receipts or reconcile them with their credit card statement. So unless they get an unexpectedly huge credit card bill, they might not even notice that they were victims of fraud and in that case the "0 liability" credit card policies are worthless, because they get defrauded anyway.
planteen 9y ago
Americans are used to entering PINs on debit cards, but not credit. However, in my recent experience in Iceland & Germany, most POS don't ask for a PIN on credit transactions either. The only time I was asked for a PIN on a credit card was at a gas pump.
- herbst 9y ago
  That however is because of your American card and not the POS systems usually not asking. I have to verify any transaction over 20$ with my Swiss credit card for example. Even on contactless
bluGill 9y ago
This isn't shocking if you understand the different legal context around credit cards in the US. Historically if in the US if someone gets a hold of your card, if I report it as soon as I know there is a problem you are legally out $50, and the credit card company and merchant has to eat the rest of the loss. In most cases the credit card companies figure since they have to take the rest of the loss they may as well get the customer service points by taking that $50 as well. As such it is only a minor inconvenience if someone gets a hold of your card, most of which is related to waiting for them to mail you a new one. Because of this people don't care about chip and pin being more secure: security was not their problem. This is also a factor in why the US is much more likely to use a credit card: there are no anecdotes about someone losing a lot of money because of their card. By contrast in Europe you were liable for all amounts charged on your card before you report it, even if you had no way to know about the charge. Since the credit card companies didn't have to take a large risk they typically didn't agree to take it on. As such a credit card is much riskier, and so it is prudent to not use your cards if you have a different option. When chip and pin came out consumers were interested because it gave them some ability to limit their loss: their chip/pin card could be lost without the potential of great loss. Note that the above is historical, and like all generalizations is false in some way. Laws change all the time which means the current reality is probably different - but the historical reality is still shaping our world. Europe is not a country, each country in Europe always had their own laws which differed in some way from the next.

codegeek 9y ago

Almost all credit cards are 0 liability to the consumer. Even if someone gets a hold of my card, I can call the credit card company and get all fraud charges reversed. That's why I personally always use a credit card EVERYWHERE. I hate cash and I hate to wait in lines. But sure, they have an electronic trail on me which frankly, I don't care too much about. If the Govt wants to get you, they WILL get you.

pmoriarty 9y ago
"Almost all credit cards are 0 liability to the consumer. Even if someone gets a hold of my card, I can call the credit card company and get all fraud charges reversed." That's true only if you or the credit card company notice the fraudulent transactions and act on them within the limited grace period, which I believe is something like 3 months. Many people don't actually keep their receipts or reconcile them with their credit card statement. So unless they get an unexpectedly huge credit card bill, they might not even notice that they were victims of fraud and in that case the "0 liability" credit card policies are worthless, because they get defrauded anyway.

planteen 9y ago

Americans are used to entering PINs on debit cards, but not credit. However, in my recent experience in Iceland & Germany, most POS don't ask for a PIN on credit transactions either. The only time I was asked for a PIN on a credit card was at a gas pump.

herbst 9y ago
That however is because of your American card and not the POS systems usually not asking. I have to verify any transaction over 20$ with my Swiss credit card for example. Even on contactless

bluGill 9y ago

This isn't shocking if you understand the different legal context around credit cards in the US. Historically if in the US if someone gets a hold of your card, if I report it as soon as I know there is a problem you are legally out $50, and the credit card company and merchant has to eat the rest of the loss. In most cases the credit card companies figure since they have to take the rest of the loss they may as well get the customer service points by taking that $50 as well. As such it is only a minor inconvenience if someone gets a hold of your card, most of which is related to waiting for them to mail you a new one. Because of this people don't care about chip and pin being more secure: security was not their problem. This is also a factor in why the US is much more likely to use a credit card: there are no anecdotes about someone losing a lot of money because of their card. By contrast in Europe you were liable for all amounts charged on your card before you report it, even if you had no way to know about the charge. Since the credit card companies didn't have to take a large risk they typically didn't agree to take it on. As such a credit card is much riskier, and so it is prudent to not use your cards if you have a different option. When chip and pin came out consumers were interested because it gave them some ability to limit their loss: their chip/pin card could be lost without the potential of great loss. Note that the above is historical, and like all generalizations is false in some way. Laws change all the time which means the current reality is probably different - but the historical reality is still shaping our world. Europe is not a country, each country in Europe always had their own laws which differed in some way from the next.