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In Europe, I was told that they employ a chip-and-PIN strategy. I'm not aware of this being possible in the US. Anyone know?

by nwah1 7y ago

nradov 7y ago
Chip and PIN is technically possible in the US, however the issuers have generally decided not to support it. Apparently they think that customers will forget their PINs, and so they would rather just deal with the fraud.
- ryanlol 7y ago
  Pretty sure many issuers will give you a card with a PIN if you claim to have trouble paying overseas without it.
fyfy18 7y ago
Chip-and-PIN (EMV) requires the card to be inserted into the payment terminal. The PIN can be verified online or offline (using the cryptographic hardware on the card). On a recent trip to the US, most places I saw had the requisite hardware, but they almost always still swiped my card. A lot of low value transactions are now done by Contactless in Europe (adoption varies by country). Typically there is a limit per transaction (€30 in my country) and per day. Above this amount you will be prompted to enter the PIN (without inserting the card). Most banks also require you to enter the PIN every X transactions. As I understand it, almost all new terminals support Contactless, it's just a question of whether that merchant and their issuing bank have it enabled. The same hardware can be used for Apple/Google/Samsung pay as well.
ryanlol 7y ago
Chip-and-PIN really sucks for consumers, but many US institutions are able to do it if you ask.
- barnabee 7y ago
  Citation needed. Seriously, I can enter my pin far more quickly than the alternative of print -> find flat surface -> sign -> return. And we have contactless for small transactions where you might swipe and not sign, which is again faster. Both of which allow you to verify the amount on screen. What really sucks for consumers is the ridiculous and completely standard US practice of restaurants/bars returning a slip to sign and add a tip along with the customer’s card. This means that without the card and away from view the staff can add an arbitrarily large additional charge to the card at some later point, and the only way to check the actual amount is to write it down a second time and check the statement.
  - ryanlol 7y ago
    >Seriously, I can enter my pin far more quickly than the alternative of print -> find flat surface -> sign -> return. Now you have to pay attention to the machine for an extended period of time instead of just waiting for someone to hand you a pen and the receipt. Terrible keypads seem to be the norm so it’s hardly easy to rapidly enter your pin every time. As far as finding a flat surface goes, do you not have arms? You literally only need to touch the pen on the paper, nobody cares what your signature looks like. >And we have contactless for small transactions where you might swipe and not sign, which is again faster. Yes, we have contactless. I don’t see how this is related to chip and pin? If we’re going to go there then ApplePay with fingerprints is obviously the ultimate solution for these payments, which I think just further supports my firm opinion that I shouldn’t be required to remember PINs for the two places where ApplePay doesn’t work.

In Europe, I was told that they employ a chip-and-PIN strategy. I'm not aware of this being possible in the US. Anyone know?

by nwah1 7y ago

In Europe, I was told that they employ a chip-and-PIN strategy. I'm not aware of this being possible in the US. Anyone know?

nradov 7y ago

Chip and PIN is technically possible in the US, however the issuers have generally decided not to support it. Apparently they think that customers will forget their PINs, and so they would rather just deal with the fraud.

ryanlol 7y ago
Pretty sure many issuers will give you a card with a PIN if you claim to have trouble paying overseas without it.

fyfy18 7y ago

Chip-and-PIN (EMV) requires the card to be inserted into the payment terminal. The PIN can be verified online or offline (using the cryptographic hardware on the card). On a recent trip to the US, most places I saw had the requisite hardware, but they almost always still swiped my card. A lot of low value transactions are now done by Contactless in Europe (adoption varies by country). Typically there is a limit per transaction (€30 in my country) and per day. Above this amount you will be prompted to enter the PIN (without inserting the card). Most banks also require you to enter the PIN every X transactions. As I understand it, almost all new terminals support Contactless, it's just a question of whether that merchant and their issuing bank have it enabled. The same hardware can be used for Apple/Google/Samsung pay as well.

ryanlol 7y ago

Chip-and-PIN really sucks for consumers, but many US institutions are able to do it if you ask.

barnabee 7y ago
Citation needed. Seriously, I can enter my pin far more quickly than the alternative of print -> find flat surface -> sign -> return. And we have contactless for small transactions where you might swipe and not sign, which is again faster. Both of which allow you to verify the amount on screen. What really sucks for consumers is the ridiculous and completely standard US practice of restaurants/bars returning a slip to sign and add a tip along with the customer’s card. This means that without the card and away from view the staff can add an arbitrarily large additional charge to the card at some later point, and the only way to check the actual amount is to write it down a second time and check the statement.
- ryanlol 7y ago
  >Seriously, I can enter my pin far more quickly than the alternative of print -> find flat surface -> sign -> return. Now you have to pay attention to the machine for an extended period of time instead of just waiting for someone to hand you a pen and the receipt. Terrible keypads seem to be the norm so it’s hardly easy to rapidly enter your pin every time. As far as finding a flat surface goes, do you not have arms? You literally only need to touch the pen on the paper, nobody cares what your signature looks like. >And we have contactless for small transactions where you might swipe and not sign, which is again faster. Yes, we have contactless. I don’t see how this is related to chip and pin? If we’re going to go there then ApplePay with fingerprints is obviously the ultimate solution for these payments, which I think just further supports my firm opinion that I shouldn’t be required to remember PINs for the two places where ApplePay doesn’t work.