Emergency Cash in Europe without PIN

jrm

Whilst on holiday recently in Tenerife, entirely through a fault of my own, I found myself unable to use an ATM because my credit card PIN was locked. The C.C. was MasterCard issued. I phoned my CC company who basically told me there was absolutely nothing, in any shape or form, they could do to help me. Whilst I had ( just about ) enough cash to see me through my holiday I was trying to find out if what my C.C. company told me was true. Can anyone provide any information ?

reclusive46

Yes unfortunately we use Offline PIN in the UK, which means the pin is stored on the chip and the chip needs to be unlocked by an atm that supports offline pin (Which are only available in the UK and France). Cards issued in other countries can be unlocked remotely with issuer scripts.

Hominu

Yes its true, your card can be blocked for whatever reason, and the card issuer may or may not decide to unblock it whilst you are in a foreign country. It may not even be possible for the card issuer to unblock it.

This is why you take alternative means of payments.

Last holiday I went on, I took three different credit cards, a debit card, cash and travellers cheques. I don't think I'll bother with the cheques next time as they are becoming a hassle now.

zagfles

You should be able to get cash over the counter in a bank with a CC, signing for it and providing ID. Or at least you used to be able to - I last did this about 10 years ago I think.

grumbler

jrm wrote: »

...my credit card PIN was locked...

What exactly happened to your card?

If a card is locked after the PIN is entered 3 times in a row incorrectly, then according to http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/faqs/yourpin.html#locked it can be unlocked only in UK cash machine.

Barclays say that it can be only Barclays ATM.

reclusive46

Hominu wrote: »

Yes its true, your card can be blocked for whatever reason, and the card issuer may or may not decide to unblock it whilst you are in a foreign country. It may not even be possible for the card issuer to unblock it.

This is why you take alternative means of payments.

Last holiday I went on, I took three different credit cards, a debit card, cash and travellers cheques. I don't think I'll bother with the cheques next time as they are becoming a hassle now.

Agreed with the cheques. Their only ok if there is an Amex travel agency near where you are and even then I don't bother as Amex customers can write a sterling cheque and they will give you the foreign currencies.

reclusive46

zagfles wrote: »

You should be able to get cash over the counter in a bank with a CC, signing for it and providing ID. Or at least you used to be able to - I last did this about 10 years ago I think.

Most bank counters use chip readers in chip countries now as well, otherwise the bank is liable for the fraud.

Some issuers will just revert to Chip and Signature if the pin is locked for transactions. (MBNA still do this I think).

jrm

After 3 wrong attempts at the airport, my PIN was blocked. I was under the impression that I could have taken my passport and my card to a bank supporting MasterCard and have got a cash advance that way ?

rb10

jrm wrote: »

After 3 wrong attempts at the airport, my PIN was blocked. I was under the impression that I could have taken my passport and my card to a bank supporting MasterCard and have got a cash advance that way ?

UK banks will ask you to enter your PIN if you ask for this - and it will reject the transaction if the PIN has been blocked.

So it wouldn't surprise if other countries didn't work in the same way.

jonesMUFCforever

jrm wrote: »

Whilst on holiday recently in Tenerife, entirely through a fault of my own, I found myself unable to use an ATM because my credit card PIN was locked. The C.C. was MasterCard issued. I phoned my CC company who basically told me there was absolutely nothing, in any shape or form, they could do to help me. Whilst I had ( just about ) enough cash to see me through my holiday I was trying to find out if what my C.C. company told me was true. Can anyone provide any information ?

Which issuer are we talking about - did they not offer an emergency cash withdrawal in their terms and conditions?

jrm

The card issuer is Halifax and no they said there was nothing what so ever at all they could do to assist me.