Wol

I received an answer to my email today. In part:
>> Dear Mr Wol

Thank you for your email regarding Chip technology. We welcome the opportunity to assist with your enquiry.

Mr Wol, as the Australian and global market is currently in the process of moving to Chip payment terminals, you will still need your magnetic stripe to support terminals that haven't yet been upgraded to Chip technology, thus why you have the option of signature or pin.

To view more information on the new Chip Technology, I have included the link below for your interest.

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/p...CS+Chip+FAQs#8

Mr Wol, we trust this information is of assistance. Should you have any further enquiries, please contact us by email or call Card Services on 1300 651 089 if you are calling from within Australia or on + 61 2 9374 7082 if calling from overseas (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) and one of our Banking Representatives will be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely xxxxxx <<

Why do I think that's from a computer?....

bcworld

I was still able to use my chipless AMEX card in the UK recently....although I did get a lot of blank looks. Some of the younger assistants who clearly had never worked in a non chip n pin world had to go and get someone to help them out - bit of a pain really.

I also found that my ANZ visa which does have a chip & pin always also required a signature in the UK as the machines would never ask me for a pin....whereas they did in Dubai & Malaysia.

briwi

Considering in the UK today there was a report about banks not paying up for fradulent transactions that occur near someone's home address - as people entering pins can no longer prove they personally didn't spend the cash (there's no dodgy signature to look at), I'd rather have the choice to sign

moneypenny20

It obviously varies. Often the signature has disappeared and the set up of the shop means that I do the swiping. More often than not, if the signature has gone, the owner offers me their driving licence as proof so they must be used to being asked. I've never had to ask. I guess my situation is different, if anything goes wrong with the payment, I have the owners name, address etc etc on the school records so they can't get away with anything

IvanM

Whilst chip and pin is better than strip and signature it is not a cure for fraud. Devices to steal pins are readily available on the internet and whilst cloning the chips is not in the arms of fraudsters the following is of little comfort
http://www.technicalinfo.net/blog/IS.../2008_016.html
.
BTW the CBA ATM on Walker Street in North Sydney was compromised and fraudsters were able to clone cards used there and steal the pins. A colleague lost $2400 on that one.

newjersey

Second that, and i thought the chipped ones are not prone to "skimming", i.e. making a duplicate of your card.