Chip 'n' Pin - A Quick Guide Discussion Area

zx2011 · 22 April 2004 at 12:54PM

If you bank with the Co-Op or with Smile you can change your PIN at any HSBC Autobank.

Margaret_Millne · 22 April 2004 at 1:14PM

But then this is the only country in the world that you can use someone elses credit card!!

My husband doesn't know how to use or check his credit card on-line

Even to do balance transfers he has to ring the credit card company and say "hi, this is me - talk to my wife please"

He doesn't even know what his credit limits are, or what the current balance is on any of the cards. Do I spoil him, or what

divadee · 22 April 2004 at 1:18PM

Me thinks you do spoil him MM, make him take charge!!! Saying that Mr Divadees just as bad he often phones them up and then puts me on the phone!!

I thinbk he does it cos he knows i will not take crap from them, where as he just says oh ok thanks puts the phone down and then rants for 20 hours afterwards that they didnt do as he wants!!!

I dont know how he will take to this chip and pin!! my 6 year old will cope better then him!! bless em eh?

Margaret_Millne · 22 April 2004 at 1:42PM

Quite right. eg. We rang Texaco to request they increase the credit limit they had given him yesterday - the conversation went something like this:

Texaco lady: Oh no, they won't do that until you have had the card 6 months.

Me: Well you did for me only last week, and I have just got the card.

Texaco Lady: No, we don't do that. You will have to wait 6 months.

Me: Well, go and check my card then, and you will see that you do.

TC: I will put it forward to the underwriters, but I don't think they will do it. What do you want the increase for anyway?

Me: To transfer a balance from another card and close it!!

TC: Well I will put it forward, but I don't think you will get it.

We will wait and see.

Oh, and if I make him take charge he will see just what I have been doing with his credit cards these last months ;D ;D

System · 22 April 2004 at 2:32PM

Hi

Never take cash!!!

I have a debit card only NOT a credit card and I use this to draw cash from hole in wall.

Am I being charged extra for this?

Hamish

Margaret_Millne · 22 April 2004 at 2:42PM

Depends which hole in the wall. Don't you check your bank statement? I don't think most mainstream banks charge but lots at motorway service areas, etc do.

I keep berating my daughter for using the one in her local corner shop. She gets £10 and is charged an extra £1.25 for the privelege. If she got £50 or £100 the charge would still only be £1.25!!!

System · 22 April 2004 at 8:35PM

Hi, what if someone behind you at the check-out makes a note of your pin as you key it in?

System · 22 April 2004 at 9:09PM

The Chip & PIN question that's seldom asked is: Is it compulsory or a legal requirement to have a PIN with the new type Chip and PIN card?

I hope the following makes a few readers think:
Chips on cards will do what they are supposed to do – deter counterfeit but only if All point of sale terminals have new type Chip readers not only in this country but world-wide. Blocking lost cards should in theory be in near real time, this too has got to be welcomed. However a PIN does not prove you are who you say you are, I am sure ID thieves will welcome PINs. In fact most types of crooks will welcome PINs. Getting hold of a card and PIN without the genuine owners knowledge means that crooks can now get instant cash with credit cards, up to £500 a day, not only that they will be able to go into a Chip and PIN compliant shop and buy goods up to the value of the card – quite a few bob if its gold or platinum. Who is going to challenge fraudsters or stop them? However my greatest fear is liability shift for fraud. Another question, because magstrips will be retained on the new type Chip and Pin card, does this mean that these cards can still be cloned and used in non Chip and PIN compliant cash machines? Terms and Conditions change too, if you accept a PIN. How can you prove you’ve not been negligent with your PIN if frauds committed? If you can’t then you could be liable for the whole cost of that fraud. If you don’t have a PIN then all you are liable for is £50, further more crooks can’t get money at cash machines. Safety in Numbers, for whom? I'd hate to have to worry about X amount of thousands being taken from my account and my PIN used. I am opting for a Chip and Signature credit card.

Lady_K · 22 April 2004 at 10:10PM

I've got a Halifax debit card at the moment. I have never had a credit card as I just don't understand them and I haven't really needed one. When this starts will I get charged interest n things just like a credit card?

I forgot to say its a Halifax Switch card but I know I had some letter about it would be changing to that chip n pin thing so will it be a credit card then?

smckane · 24 April 2004 at 5:37AM

Hi,

From what I know from work, and what my bank tells me, I hope I can answer a few questions...

Only 1 UK supermarket chain had fully installed chip+pin systems for the start of April - that was Safeway, since the Morrisons takeover, now no UK Supermarket is fully ready (though expect it to be a close race between Morrisons and Tescos) . You may have noticed Tesco have changed all their card readers (groove and slot at base, reads strip and chip - very nifty!), but still haven't bothered to install keypads. Sainsburys are still testing.

Will you get charged for debit transactions when you aren't already? I strongly doubt it, this whole thing is meant to save the banks money, so new charges are unlikely.

Do you have to use chip+pin? Well, this is mostly not your choice. Retailers will nearly all be chip+pin by Summer 2005, old card machines only have a certain life span and as many are rental anyway they will be replaced. Retailers also get charged for every fraudulent transaction (not the banks - hence profits so high!), as this is designed to cut fraud, retailers will use it to cut costs. Also, retailers will often not be covered by fraudulent transaction insurance from next Summer unless they use chip+pin. So, you go to a shop and say I haven't got a PIN - chances are you won't be able to make a purchase.

Can you change your pin? Oh yes, nearly every chip+pin retailer's terminal will let you do it!

Can you use your card abroad? Well, depends, not all chip+pin systems are the same. The French one is slightly different, but should be compatible. The UK system is MEANT to be the current standard, but things change and so who knows what the state of play will be with time. In theory, we are meant to be harmonising systems globally, but I don't think I've seen a time frame for this, just hot air :-)

Is chip+pin good overall? Well for us in retail yes and no - slightly slower transactions are expected for the first few months after introduction, but less chargebacks (bank refuses to pay) and so possibly this loss is balanced out. For customers smoother transactions, one they get used to the system, but forget your pin and you're screwed - you get three chances, not every time, you just get 3 in a rolling 24 hours (please correct me if I'm wrong with the time). So, you forget it twice at an ATM in the morning and a third time at the garage on your way home and you are locked out until the bank sends you a new pin! Can we expect the banks to put all their helplines on premium rate numbers now ?????

::)

Please correct me if I'm wrong - my briefing at work was a short while ago now so some things may have changed!

Stewart

Chip 'n' Pin - A Quick Guide Discussion Area

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