credit card with chip & PIN technology?

[aurora]

Does anybody here in the US have a credit card with chip & PIN technology that they would recommend? Preferably one with no annual fee and low/no exchange fees? It's getting harder to travel abroad without one and I can't believe how slow my regular institutions (CC companies, banks) are to get on board with this technology.

[Deleted]

I need the answer to this too. DH just went to Europe and the card he got specifically for no foreign transaction fees hardly worked anywhere.

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2012 13:08:33 GMT -5 v said:

I would maybe ask this on the travel board too?

NQB, where was your husband? That makes me nervous because I've never had problems before, but I don't have a chip and PIN card.

I think it was fine in London but when he went to Amsterdam and Germany (Bonn then Hamburg) he had issues.

[raangoli]

I was wondering this too since we're headed to Europe in the fall. I read that the machines in places that require the chip/PIN technology (e.g. train stations or subways) will usually also have a cashier nearby. I hope this is true since we don't have a chip/PIN card and I really don't want to open a new account.

[Deleted]

We got a Chase Hyatt card with chip and signature that we used in England and France last month. DH is in a meeting, but I'll find out from him how he got it.

[anna7602]

We had to open a private banking account to get one. It's issued by Chase and does the trick now that we're living in France.

Luckily, DH's firm has a big enough relationship with Chase that they were able to wave the $100K in deposits requirement for us.

[frlcb]

We have a BA Chase card and a Hyatt Chase card and it has the Chip technology but not pin, to my knowledge no credit card in the US has both chip and pin.

I used a swipe card every time I go to the UK (and lived there for 3 years and used one as well), you just have to tell people to swipe and they act all annoyed but do it. You just can't use them at kiosks, like in train stations for example.

[ReenaP]

I researched this for our upcoming London/Paris trip.

The two I found that offered the chip + pin were the Chase Hyatt and the British Airways Visa. We decided to pass on both and just get a card that offered no forex fees (Chase Sapphire Preferred). The negative is that we won't be able to use an automated machine.

[frlcb]

Aug 16, 2012 13:36:34 GMT -5 ReenaP said:

I researched this for our upcoming London/Paris trip.

The two I found that offered the chip + pin were the Chase Hyatt and the British Airways Visa. We decided to pass on both and just get a card that offered no forex fees (Chase Sapphire Preferred). The negative is that we won't be able to use an automated machine.

I just want to clarify that these are not actually chip and pin, just chip.

[rikki]

I have the Hyatt card and I used it in Europe and Asia without issues. However, it does not have a pin associated with it.

[Deleted]

The BA card has it, but there is a fee.

I got a card from Travelex this year with the pin and chip that was preloaded with GBPs

[kershnic]

I have a US Bank travel rewards card that has a chip in it. The information they sent told me something about how to get a PIN, but I haven't done it yet. They specifically said that they were upgrading in order to make it more useful around the world as this technology becomes standard elsewhere. There's a $49/year fee, but it's waived if you spend over $24,000 in a year, and even if you don't to me the travel reward structure is worth it.

[jaybird]

Aug 16, 2012 13:37:51 GMT -5 v said:

Aug 16, 2012 13:13:33 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I think it was fine in London but when he went to Amsterdam and Germany (Bonn then Hamburg) he had issues.

We're going to Amsterdam very soon. Booo. Will make sure I have lots of cash I guess!

Typically in Amsterdam you can just tell them that you don't have a chip card and they can swipe it an alternate way. The only time when I've had difficulty is trying to buy train tickets or tram cards. If you need a train ticket you can only pay by chip card or in coins, but the train station has change machines near the main counter. If you want a tram card (and the city is relatively small so it's not needed) you can walk across from the train station to the visitors center and buy one at the counter there.

[aurora]

Thanks for the feedback! Most of you are confirming my Google research that there is not much available here but I will look into the few posted.

We did some traveling in Europe (various countries) last year where it was very inconvenient not to have the chip & PIN, for those of you who were asking. Definitely try to have some local currency on hand if you don't have one.

[mfluder]

Aug 16, 2012 13:37:51 GMT -5 v said:

Aug 16, 2012 13:13:33 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I think it was fine in London but when he went to Amsterdam and Germany (Bonn then Hamburg) he had issues.

We're going to Amsterdam very soon. Booo. Will make sure I have lots of cash I guess!

For what its worth (little), we spent 2 weeks in Germany in May, including a lot of smaller towns, and had no problem with the chip/pin. Only once did an ATM not work for us, and otherwise every other retailer worked fine.