Using credit and debit cards in France

hookie

Was in France last week and when trying to buy petrol from unmannned fuel stations (these are quite common) using credit and debit cards, all were rejected even before I could put my PIN no. in. I have 5 credit and 1 debit cards and none worked. I very nearlly got stranded with no fuel but persuaded a friendly native to buy me fuel using his card and I gave him cash. Other Brits I spoke to had exactly the same problem. I contacted Barclaycard and they had no explanation or solution to the problem and seemed totally disinterested (no surprise there!). Anyone got any ideas or solutions?

inmypocketnottheirs

I was in France last week and filled up on Sunday at the Carrefour in Calais (diesel is about 20p a litre cheaper there). I used my chip and pin card without any problem at all at an unmanned service station.

johnmoney05

I was in France a month ago...using the nationwide credit and debit card (chip n pin) for petrol, ATM and shopping in the supermarket...all worked well...

gingercordial

I used my Natwest credit card and PIN successfully in Paris last month, to pay for dinner in a restaurant. However, in a cafe for lunch the next day it was rejected, which was nearly very embarrassing as they didn't take Amex (the only other one I had) and we only just had enough cash (they got a huge pile of eurocents).

I called Natwest to check that no stop had been put on my card, they said no but that they often have problems with the French system.

Bernard_Coleslaw

hookie wrote:

Was in France last week and when trying to buy petrol from unmannned fuel stations (these are quite common) using credit and debit cards, all were rejected even before I could put my PIN no. in. I have 5 credit and 1 debit cards and none worked. I very nearlly got stranded with no fuel but persuaded a friendly native to buy me fuel using his card and I gave him cash. Other Brits I spoke to had exactly the same problem. I contacted Barclaycard and they had no explanation or solution to the problem and seemed totally disinterested (no surprise there!). Anyone got any ideas or solutions?

Surprised that no-one at Barclaycard knew about this. This is a relatively well-known issue with the French card system.

France adopted some of the chip card standards about 10 years ago, however since then the international standards for chip and PIN have surpassed these. This means that card transactions with a UK chip and PIN card will sometimes try to revert back to using the magnetic stripe on your card, rather than the chip. Where there's a reasonably clued-up member of staff there, they'll let it go through. However, with unmanned petrol stations you don't get this luxury, so it just automatically rejects your card.

Basically it's because France was an early adopter of chip cards, but hasn't since upgraded some of its systems. I always recommend people to take a little cash with them if motoring in France, just in case.

What is a little puzzling is the inconsistent nature of the problem - some people seem to be able to get by with no hassle at all.

Hope this helps.

CTT_2

hookie wrote:

Was in France last week and when trying to buy petrol from unmannned fuel stations (these are quite common) using credit and debit cards, all were rejected even before I could put my PIN no. in. I have 5 credit and 1 debit cards and none worked. I very nearlly got stranded with no fuel but persuaded a friendly native to buy me fuel using his card and I gave him cash. Other Brits I spoke to had exactly the same problem. I contacted Barclaycard and they had no explanation or solution to the problem and seemed totally disinterested (no surprise there!). Anyone got any ideas or solutions?

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