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Americans going to Europe: Remember that your credit card might not work as often in Europe. Be prepared for hearing "We only take chip & pin cards here" in sho
by rmc 13y ago
Americans going to Europe: Remember that your credit card might not work as often in Europe. Be prepared for hearing "We only take chip & pin cards here" in shops etc.
- delive 13y agoI've had the same issue in the past which can be frustrating (though now I always travel with enough cash). I actually called Visa about it and they told me that any vendor accepting Visa transactions is required by their contract with Visa to accept swipe transactions. She said it was there because the US was still rolling out chip and pin cards.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoImagine my dismay when a coffeeshop in Amsterdam would not take my magstrip only American Express.
- mrinterweb 13y agoThe different scenarios my imagination has come up with all end with you saying "mega bummer, dude".
- toomuchtodo 13y agoI paid with cash in the end :) A+, would do again.
- aioprisan 13y agoamex cards all have chip versions that you can request for free
- toomuchtodo 13y agoHave the chip version of the Amex Platinum. Since its the US version, its chip and signature, not chip and pin, and works almost nowhere in Europe.
- rmc 13y agoFor those who don't know, the term "coffeeshop" in the Netherlands refers to places that sell cannabis. "café" is a regular café.
- rsynnott 13y agoA lot of places wouldn't take Amex of any description; it's far less commonly supported than Visa and Mastercard.
- qqg3 13y agoActually, most places WILL take the old 'swipe' cards. But most cashiers and either never worked with or forgetting about swipe cards. You just have to be very verbal and upfront and let them know yours is a swipe/ swipe and sign job.
- untog 13y agoMany won't take it though, because of the increased fraud risk. I agree that the majority of cases are simple misunderstanding, but that isn't always the case.
- jules 13y agoActually, in the Netherlands, even supermarkets stopped accepting swipe cards. The machines are still physically capable of reading swipe cards, but the supermarket simply won't let you, presumably exactly because of this risk. Note that a lot of places wouldn't accept credit cards in the first place (swipe or not), only debit cards.
- saryant 13y agoI keep hearing this but I spent six months in Europe and the only place that wouldn't take my swipe card was SNCF ticket kiosks. Wasn't a problem anywhere else.
- vidarh 13y agoEurope is a big place, with around 50 countries... 6 months won't begin to scratch the surface.
- rsynnott 13y agoIt varies a lot by country. In Ireland, for instance, POS terminals deployed in the last five years or so in smaller shops typically don't have a swipe reader at all, and even where a swipe reader is available, the company may have a policy of not accepting swipe cards.