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At restaurants, they usually swipe and then bring you a receipt to sign. Yes, we still have the magnetic strip enabled. Most retailers it’s tap/RFID or chip re

At restaurants, they usually swipe and then bring you a receipt to sign. Yes, we still have the magnetic strip enabled. Most retailers it’s tap/RFID or chip read, but I still run into old POS hardware that requires a mag swipe (not often - I think Visa charges the merchant more for these transactions). EDIT - I much prefer chip/PIN and wish it were the default here. And wish all US cards had a PIN (some don’t, and those that support it usually need it enabled explicitly). This causes problems in Europe with unmanned terminals (gas stations after hours, train ticket self-service).

andix 3y ago
> This causes problems in Europe with unmanned terminals (gas stations after hours, train ticket self-service). I think you should be safe with a NFC enabled card for now. Apple Pay for example works in most places in my experience (even all around the world, except US). Physical cards might have a limit for contactless payment somewhere between 20-100€. And not all devices have a pin pad to enter the required pin then.
- alistairSH 3y ago
  The problem I had in the UK was unmanned gas stations (at night). My main card apparently didn’t support a PIN at the time (2018?). So filling up at night was problematic (had to use my ATM card which did have a PIN). I ran into something similar in Italy in 2017 at the Florence train station - self-service terminal wanted a PIN.
  - andix 3y ago
    Yes, if your card doesn't have a pin, then it's probably not usable on unmanned terminals. But this is kind of by design, isn't it? Like those NFC credit card stickers, that can only be used on NFC terminals, because they aren't a smart card and don't have a magstripe. I think the operators could still charge the card without a PIN, but the card owner could dispute the charge and just get the money back. That's why they don't accept it, they want to get paid, and not give away free gas.

andix 3y ago

> This causes problems in Europe with unmanned terminals (gas stations after hours, train ticket self-service). I think you should be safe with a NFC enabled card for now. Apple Pay for example works in most places in my experience (even all around the world, except US). Physical cards might have a limit for contactless payment somewhere between 20-100€. And not all devices have a pin pad to enter the required pin then.

alistairSH 3y ago
The problem I had in the UK was unmanned gas stations (at night). My main card apparently didn’t support a PIN at the time (2018?). So filling up at night was problematic (had to use my ATM card which did have a PIN). I ran into something similar in Italy in 2017 at the Florence train station - self-service terminal wanted a PIN.
- andix 3y ago
  Yes, if your card doesn't have a pin, then it's probably not usable on unmanned terminals. But this is kind of by design, isn't it? Like those NFC credit card stickers, that can only be used on NFC terminals, because they aren't a smart card and don't have a magstripe. I think the operators could still charge the card without a PIN, but the card owner could dispute the charge and just get the money back. That's why they don't accept it, they want to get paid, and not give away free gas.