Chip 'n' Pin - A Quick Guide Discussion Area

mrtickle

Still 48 hours later,  ??? ??? ???

has anyone used chip and pin?

What providers have already gone live?

My current CC expires next Monday; the new PIN card is ready to go then. Morrisons down the road from here are all chip'd up.

DiggingOut

Still 48 hours later,  ??? ??? ???

has anyone used chip and pin?

What providers have already gone live?

Been using it at Safeway for several weeks. Used it at a car dealer a few weeks ago.

DiggingOut

And as for the foolish radio presenter who shouted her PIN accross a bar, can she not read? Has she no brain?

Not sure we want to go there on radio presenters.

D_G_Marsden

Hi Digginout,

Who is your card provider who has been chip and pinning?

Curious to know who has issued fully working chip and pin cards and not just chip cards.

Thanks

System

The original driver to replace magnetic stripe cards with chip cards was to remove the issue of card counterfeiting – skimming the magnetic stripe to allow a card to be cloned. It’s impossible to quickly “skim” a well-designed chip. Use of a PIN rather than a signature uses the chip’s capabilities to remove the possibility of human error - someone not checking the signature at a till – and thus removes another avenue of fraud.

So skimming is no more possible with a Chip and Signature card than it is with a Chip and PIN card but the risks of fraud due to theft are presumably higher. Therefore, I suspect that banks will set Chip and Signature cards’ on-chip risk parameters higher so that the chip forces transactions through the bank’s risk management systems more often for more reasons. This increases the risk of transactions being refused or being made to verify yourself in person on the phone.

If it turns out that a significant proportion of fraudulent transactions occur through Chip and Signature cards then these risk parameters may get tightened to the point of making the cards virtually unusable. As long as the banks address any disability discrimination issues this would force people onto Chip and Pin.

When Chip cards are fully launched in the UK – next year is the mandate data I believe – I’d also not rely on my credit cards in the US where they’re not mandated to implement Chip and will continue to use the magnetic stripe. European banks are likely to set their risk parameters higher for US based payments to prevent a flood of skimmed transactions from the States.

student100

Agreed.

(I did write a lot more here but then I re-read your post and realised that I was saying the same thing as you!)

I wonder what effect this will have on people visiting the UK from the US in the long term - retailers may be reluctant to accept their non-chipped cards?

timarr

No I don't think it'll dissuade Americans from visiting the UK. As the US banks are providing non-chipped cards then the cost of fraud should surely fall on them not the UK retailers?

However not being able to use your card in the US might put off Europeans already annoyed by having to stand in line for fingerprinting by US immigration ...

student100

People with UK/European cards in theory will still will be able to use their card in the US, as C&P cards also contain a magstripe which will be used abroad where chip readers are not available. The banks will have to work out some way to make sure this works.

timarr

Absolutely - UK based chip cards WILL work in the US using the magnetic stripe (just as US mag stripes will work in the UK).

The problem may arise if lots of fraudsters counterfeit UK based mag stripes and use them in North America where the chip offers no protection. UK banks will surely inspect any transactions from the the US more carefully which may lead to authorisation problems on occasion.

I'll be taking traveller's cheques with me for a while, just in case.

cath-w

Absolutely - UK based chip cards WILL work in the US using the magnetic stripe (just as US mag stripes will work in the UK).

I currently live in Belgium. As timarr says I can use a chipped Barclay card via the magnetic stripe over here.

Belgium have had chip system for ages. Here the banking system is very good. All bills can be paid at a hole in the wall, just need the number of the account you whis to pay the money to. This works so well that cheque books no longer exist in Belgium.

C.