Chip & Pin - Widely Used in the US?

gizmoleeds

Although it's not really relevent to your query, I have found that the Americans have a much better alternative to Chip and Pin - thay are allowed to write "CHECK ID" on the signature strip. When they do this, the cashier then checks some form of official photo ID (usually a drivers licence).

Just think for a minute about how much more secure this system is than Chip and Pin and how much cheaper it would be to implement (or putting photos of the cardholder on the card like RBS have been doing for the last decade) and you wonder what idiots are running the UK card services.

M_Thomson

gizmoleeds wrote:

Although it's not really relevent to your query, I have found that the Americans have a much better alternative to Chip and Pin - thay are allowed to write "CHECK ID" on the signature strip. When they do this, the cashier then checks some form of official photo ID (usually a drivers licence).

Just think for a minute about how much more secure this system is than Chip and Pin and how much cheaper it would be to implement (or putting photos of the cardholder on the card like RBS have been doing for the last decade) and you wonder what idiots are running the UK card services.

Yep,
At the same time though it is a lot easier to use a stolen card in America than it is here. In America, a lot of the cashiers will just give you your card back before you have signed for your transaction. It seems like if the transaction is authorised that is enough for them. You could sign Mickey Mouse and they would not notice!!! They are also experimenting with a new system which is simular to chip and pin. You touch your card against a panel and it gets authorised without the need to sign or enter a pin! Not very security concious!!

James

M_Thomson wrote:

Yep,
At the same time though it is a lot easier to use a stolen card in America than it is here. In America, a lot of the cashiers will just give you your card back before you have signed for your transaction. It seems like if the transaction is authorised that is enough for them. You could sign Mickey Mouse and they would not notice!!! They are also experimenting with a new system which is simular to chip and pin. You touch your card against a panel and it gets authorised without the need to sign or enter a pin! Not very security concious!!

And if this happens to you, you should be questioning sales staff as to why they haven't checked your signature!

If your card gets cloned or nicked and the crook gets hold of your PIN then beware! They'll be hitting the ATMs in no time.

M_Thomson

James wrote:

And if this happens to you, you should be questioning sales staff as to why they haven't checked your signature!

If your card gets cloned or nicked and the crook gets hold of your PIN then beware! They'll be hitting the ATMs in no time.

Thanks James, I am quite aware how the banking system works. I work for one

Niteflyer

M_Thomson wrote:

Scroll up to my last post. What they use in the US is NOT chip and pin.

Also M Thompson, the US is starting to use a version of chip and pin on a smart card.

In North America, Visa USA has had significant success with its Visa Smart initiative, with chip cards now being issued by three of the country's largest Visa members. It is not clear however whether other issuers will follow VISA USA and convert to Smart cards.

Matt

frugglewump

Ok I wasn't sure of the difference between 'swipe & pin' vs 'chip & pin' since i didn't pay for too much over there.

I have to admit I find some of the rest of this thread amusing given the posts I read in a online community called customers_suck where the poster is complaining about behaviour at the till