janek

We have no chip and pin here in NZ? what am I doing when I make a puchase if I am not using my pin number?
Am I missing something here? I am going abroad soon and would like to know....whenever we had a holiday out of Britain I would always tel. my bank to tell them I was going, but in those days [pre 2004] the UK did not have pin numbers and we had to sign for everything.

sparkie down under

Hi Janek.

Sorry but I think you are confusing the mag strip on the back of your card as some sort of wonderful bank security measure, (like we had in the UK in the early nineties).

That strip contains heaps of info on YOU and your ACCOUNT, and it can be read by any half decent reader. I can access a reader in the course of my business, and what is my business - sparky. Feel secure now?

The process of scamming is someone swiping your card through 'their' reader, recording those details and then putting them onto their own card. Hey presto a cloned card - and you pay for it.

Scamming a card is easy. You pay someone say in a cafe to put their card reader close to the proper one and tell them for every card they scam they get say $50. Guess how many people who earn $12 an hour do it ??????

And as for the super safe pin well once scammed - so what. Trying to prove it wasn't you who bought that washing machine in Auckland when you were in work in timaru is bloody hard.

Chip and pin on the other hand is a much higher level of protection. To read the chip you need more gear and to copy the chip - well you are at a level where it isn't worth it - yet.

so sorry but having the pin is now just about worthless

BEVS

No , we don't seem to have this yet.

Neither my NZ bank eftpos card nor my NZ bank credit card have chip and pin.

Both my UK bank and credit card do have chip and pin.

The chips are visible on the card front as a small shiny square. It's widespread in the UK , if not everywhere . Stores are quite strict about the chip and pin as I found out these past few months. No chip and pin, no usey the cardy as the equipment is geared to the dual security measures.

Here in Nz , one can still sign for items bought by credit card. In the UK this seems to be a big no-no, as I discovered when I couldn't remember the pin on my UK chip and pin credit card in British Home Stores & wanted to be able to just sign. The manager was there in a thrice to check me out.

sparkie down under

My mate with a store back home tells me that the chip when scanned it sends to the data bank a code which changes every time it's used, and when you present the card the first thing the chip does is look for that code. No code and alarm bells ring at the bank and the police and the terminal. Apparently (some) till operators get a message to delay the customer and get them to look at toward CCTV's etc, cos the police are alerted and the hope is the thief gets caught. If they do then the shop assistant gets quite a big wedge from the chip and pin sorting house.

Also the chip has your spending habits on it so if you start spending like there's no tomorrow (and you don't normally do this) then that also rings bells.

janek

So just to confirm; my NZ visa card will be no use in Europe ?

Batty

If you have a pin number on it you can take out cash. It was hit and miss for me - some shops wouldn't take it without chip and pin but others would - they have the capability to let you sign but for some younger staff it was as alien to them as black and white movies

Kiwiprincess

As batty says, it should work. In fact, it almost certainly will work as there are still plenty of places (USA being a biggie) who do not insert chips in their cards. To completely restrict non chip cards would be insane on the part of a retailer. I know the problem when I was there was that some staff didn't understand the liability for the retailer was only in respect of UK (and maybe EU?) cards.

just an aside - and purely my opinion based on observation and eavesdropping, it seemed in the UK to almost go from 'no pin' (let alone no chip) being common to chip & pin being compulsory. Kinda like it skipped the 'pin' stage. I still recall getting a lecture from my UK bank about the importance of pin numbers when I opened my UK account. Very very oddly, I didnt get a lecture about the chip side of the card. Just the pin. Whereas NZ cards have all had pins etc for years. Ok some people do sign for them still. But most people I know use a pin on their credit cards (obviously do with eftpos).

janek

thanks for the help in this matter, I always tell the bank that I will be 'on the move' as well.