Buying gas in Ireland -- need chip + PIN?

[v]

When we went to Iceland a few years ago it was a major, major hassle to buy gas because the pumps at every gas station we required chip + PIN cards or a gift card to work.

Will we run into the same issue in Ireland?  We'll be in pretty rural areas.  Wondering if I should apply for a chip + PIN ASAP (I have many chip + signature cards, but chip + PIN would require applying for a new card).

Thanks!

[frlcb]

In most of Ireland you pay inside and not at the pump, so you should be fine with chip and signature - and if it is pay at the pump you can still go inside and pay.

On the other hand if you have time to get one I probably would, because it does make life easier.

We have chip and pin through our UK bank but just curious, who were you going to get a chip and pin card through in the US? Barclay?

[v]

Sept 6, 2015 8:15:42 GMT -5 frlcb said:

In most of Ireland you pay inside and not at the pump, so you should be fine with chip and signature - and if it is pay at the pump you can still go inside and pay.

On the other hand if you have time to get one I probably would, because it does make life easier.

We have chip and pin through our UK bank but just curious, who were you going to get a chip and pin card through in the US? Barclay?

There are only a handful of chip + PIN cards in the US but yes, Barclay Arrival would be what I'd be going for.

The version long story of this story is that I had a Barclay Arrival+ for a year, very much liked it in part for its rewards program and in part for its chip + PIN.  Neither of these benefits were worth an $89 annual fee to me, though, so after a year I downgraded to a no annual fee Barclay Rewards card.  I just realized that the no-fee Arrival (not to be confused with Arrival+) now has a chip + PIN.  So I called last week to ask to me switched over to the no-fee Arrival and they said sure, that will be effective immediately.  But now when I've asked when the card will actually arrive, they say they won't issue it until after my next statement close, and then it will take 7-10 business days from then.  Which is a long time from now.  So I plan to call to ask them to expedite it (email customer service said it COULDN'T be expedited, but we'll see).

So my question is mostly about how screwed we'll be if the card doesn't arrive in time.  If the answer was "very," I'd apply for another card, but if not, I'll fight with Barclay but not worry if it doesn't work out.

I imagine we're only a few years away from there being lots of US-issued chip + PIN cards.  Right now, pretty much every card is switching over to chip + signature, and places like Target have started taking chips (and not allowing you to swipe a PIN card), but the field of chip + PIN is still very narrow.  And I believe most (if not all) of the few US chip and PIN cards default to signature wherever available -- PIN is only for offline transactions like unmanned gas pumps and ticket machines at train stations.

[v]

Oh wait -- crisis possibly averted. It looks like the Barclay Rewards card I have in hand has a PIN.

Your credit card is a chip and signature card with Personal Identification Number (PIN) capability. In most cases when you travel abroad, you'll be asked to sign for your transaction. However, at some unattended terminals, such as train ticket kiosks, you may be asked to enter your PIN instead of signing. Click here to learn about chip card.

So maybe Barclay is rolling this out generally, and not just on its Arrival cards.  That's good news...

[frlcb]

Sept 6, 2015 11:17:39 GMT -5 v said:

Sept 6, 2015 8:15:42 GMT -5 frlcb said:

In most of Ireland you pay inside and not at the pump, so you should be fine with chip and signature - and if it is pay at the pump you can still go inside and pay.

On the other hand if you have time to get one I probably would, because it does make life easier.

We have chip and pin through our UK bank but just curious, who were you going to get a chip and pin card through in the US? Barclay?

There are only a handful of chip + PIN cards in the US but yes, Barclay Arrival would be what I'd be going for.

The version long story of this story is that I had a Barclay Arrival+ for a year, very much liked it in part for its rewards program and in part for its chip + PIN.  Neither of these benefits were worth an $89 annual fee to me, though, so after a year I downgraded to a no annual fee Barclay Rewards card.  I just realized that the no-fee Arrival (not to be confused with Arrival+) now has a chip + PIN.  So I called last week to ask to me switched over to the no-fee Arrival and they said sure, that will be effective immediately.  But now when I've asked when the card will actually arrive, they say they won't issue it until after my next statement close, and then it will take 7-10 business days from then.  Which is a long time from now.  So I plan to call to ask them to expedite it (email customer service said it COULDN'T be expedited, but we'll see).

So my question is mostly about how screwed we'll be if the card doesn't arrive in time.  If the answer was "very," I'd apply for another card, but if not, I'll fight with Barclay but not worry if it doesn't work out.

I imagine we're only a few years away from there being lots of US-issued chip + PIN cards.  Right now, pretty much every card is switching over to chip + signature, and places like Target have started taking chips (and not allowing you to swipe a PIN card), but the field of chip + PIN is still very narrow.  And I believe most (if not all) of the few US chip and PIN cards default to signature wherever available -- PIN is only for offline transactions like unmanned gas pumps and ticket machines at train stations.

And I don't think you will be very screwed since every gas station we used when we were last in Ireland, which was in the last year, was pay inside, not at the pump. Just stick the card in the chip reader and it will automatically print out the receipt. I use my chip and signature cards every time we are in Europe, dh uses our chip and pin, and I have never had an issue when it prints out the receipt for me to sign. A few times they have acted grumpy about it but in Ireland I have always found them to be accommodating to non chip and pin cards.

All of the Banana Republic/Gap/Old Navy card readers in the US, at least in my city, also are now chip readers. Except if you use a chip BR card then you have to insert the chip into the reader, it reads it, and then it still makes you swipe. They said it is a flaw with their own branded cards, and is completely ridiculous.

[osumelissa]

I have the Barclay Arrival card and set up the PIN for when I go to Europe. I'm glad American credit cards are finally going to the chip.

[drloretta]

Our CC doesn't have a chip and DH got gas just fine last week.

[Susie]

Sept 6, 2015 11:17:39 GMT -5 v said:

So my question is mostly about how screwed we'll be if the card doesn't arrive in time.  If the answer was "very," I'd apply for another card, but if not, I'll fight with Barclay but not worry if it doesn't work out.

I'd say not very.  For one thing, Ireland is not a very big country and although it takes a fair amount of time to drive from place to place, the actual distance is not all that far.  You don't go through a ton of fuel.  Both times I've done it, buying gas/diesel was like a once or twice in the entire trip sort of thing.  Easy enough to plan to do during business hours when you can pay inside.  A lot of the gas stations in rural areas didn't even have the option to pay at the pump, so chip + sig was fine.