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I believe the way it works (in some European countries at least - perhaps also the UK) is that if the retailer uses mag stripe then effectively they bear the fr

I believe the way it works (in some European countries at least - perhaps also the UK) is that if the retailer uses mag stripe then effectively they bear the fraud risk, whereas with chip and PIN the bank/card company does (not sure how this works for card holders who are unable to use chip and PIN due to disabilities, which is another reason mag stripes haven't gone away completely). This seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

tialaramex 6y ago
This is called "Liability shift" yes. Shift is imposed where a retailer cannot/ does not accept chip cards rather than where for whatever reason a chip card wasn't able to be used. In the US shift was supposed to be imposed everywhere left this summer, I expect COVID-19 is offered as another reason to yet again delay, but retails stores are already covered, it's mostly things like some unattended 24 hour gasoline pumps that are still mag-stripe in the US. Also most (all?) card holders don't have a problem with the chip, they may be unable to remember a PIN, or unable to enter one, in which case the chip terminal requests a human witness them signing something or asks the retailer to accept just the chip. Americans using European terminals may not have a PIN either, their chips tell the terminal this user doesn't have a PIN, they may be asked to sign something instead.
- alistairSH 6y ago
  Americans using European terminals may not have a PIN either, their chips tell the terminal this user doesn't have a PIN, they may be asked to sign something instead. Or, in the case of unmonitored "kiosks", the American is just left with a failed transaction. This was my experience with train ticket terminals in Italy and unattended petrol stations in the UK. Fortunately, in both cases, my secondary card has a PIN enabled. It was irritating that my primary card didn't offer a PIN, so I cancelled it upon my return to the US. Edit - this was 5 years ago, may have changed since, not sure as I changed cards to one that explicitly offered chip/pin at the time.
Symbiote 6y ago
I don't think disability requires using the magstripe. The chip can mark what security is required, just like many American cards are "Chip and Sign".
- tomatocracy 6y ago
  I don't know if this is still the case but I think some people with eg dementia or some rare memory disorders kept mag stripe cards (which they'd previously been issued with very long expiry dates) when chip and PIN was first introduced.

tialaramex 6y ago

This is called "Liability shift" yes. Shift is imposed where a retailer cannot/ does not accept chip cards rather than where for whatever reason a chip card wasn't able to be used. In the US shift was supposed to be imposed everywhere left this summer, I expect COVID-19 is offered as another reason to yet again delay, but retails stores are already covered, it's mostly things like some unattended 24 hour gasoline pumps that are still mag-stripe in the US. Also most (all?) card holders don't have a problem with the chip, they may be unable to remember a PIN, or unable to enter one, in which case the chip terminal requests a human witness them signing something or asks the retailer to accept just the chip. Americans using European terminals may not have a PIN either, their chips tell the terminal this user doesn't have a PIN, they may be asked to sign something instead.

alistairSH 6y ago
Americans using European terminals may not have a PIN either, their chips tell the terminal this user doesn't have a PIN, they may be asked to sign something instead. Or, in the case of unmonitored "kiosks", the American is just left with a failed transaction. This was my experience with train ticket terminals in Italy and unattended petrol stations in the UK. Fortunately, in both cases, my secondary card has a PIN enabled. It was irritating that my primary card didn't offer a PIN, so I cancelled it upon my return to the US. Edit - this was 5 years ago, may have changed since, not sure as I changed cards to one that explicitly offered chip/pin at the time.

Symbiote 6y ago

I don't think disability requires using the magstripe. The chip can mark what security is required, just like many American cards are "Chip and Sign".

tomatocracy 6y ago
I don't know if this is still the case but I think some people with eg dementia or some rare memory disorders kept mag stripe cards (which they'd previously been issued with very long expiry dates) when chip and PIN was first introduced.