Steve_

Gasp!

So I was in a Wal-mart yesterday and at self checkout the POS terminal asked me to swipe OR INSERT my card, my American credit card has the chip on it, so I inserted it and lo and behold, it worked!

On the receipt near the bottom it says: "*NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED".

My credit card actually expires shortly, must have been one of the first to have the chip on it.

Wow, state-of-the-2000s technology is finally in use in America!

AdobePinon

So, chip no pin is what you mean. Sounds the same as swiping. In many places no signature is required if you're spending less than $50 or so.

Steve_

No I had to put in my PIN after I inserted the card. Using a stylus. Oooh, I wonder when keypads will be introduced...

kimilseung

Does not sound any different to what has happened for yonks.

Steve_

What no swiping and no signing your name completely illegibly? That's what I usually do. Insert the card and enter the PIN using the stylus, I've never done that before. Sometimes I have to do the PIN as well with a stylus but never just the PIN on its own. No magnetic stripe involved, that's the key point.

I wonder if this is just them moving to it because it's going to be mandated next year I think or if they were worried after what happened to Target? Hmm.

Pulaski

When little Miss P is with me she usually signs for me. .... No store assistant has ever stopped, or even questioned me.

Last Thursday I made two purchases, one at Lowes, and what at a local Kroger owned grocery. Both purchases were in the $90-$100 range, and paid for with a magnetic strip Visa credit card. I was not asked to sign for either purchases. I am used to not signing for smaller purchases, usually up to $25, but I have never avoided signing for such large payments before.

AZ_Alba

At Costco I only have to sign for my Amex if I go over $200.

scrubbedexpat091

Seems Wal-Mart and other retailers are ahead of the game, but customers don't have the cards yet for the most part.

Retailers have already installed hardware to read safer smart cards | Dallas Morning News


With more and more places going to tap and go (no clue of its official name) I haven't had to insert the card into a reader or enter a pin in months now.

Uncle_Bob

You've got to be careful with these cards that auto authorize at a certain amount. We went bowling at Dave and Busters the other week. They insisted that they kept our credit card while we bowl. I explained my identify theft concern and in the end i left and went elsewhere.

Jerseygirl

That's in Canada right? It will be years before the US catches up with that...US banking is light years behind the UK and Canada.

zzrmark

My UK prepaid credit card can only be used with the chip and pin method in Walmart, their system no longer recognizes the magnetic strip on my card. Makes me feel much more comfortable knowing my card can't be used willynilly if it gets lifted by some toerag, about time it was adopted as standard throughout the country.

scrubbedexpat091

The link is regarding US retailers, the retailers mentioned are ahead of the banks and have the capability to accept chip and pin cards, the retailers are waiting on the banks.

Canadian banking is ahead in some ways such as credit cards and chips, but behind in other ways.

The tap and pay, no clue if its available in the US. Seems pointless to me to have switched to the pin and chip and then go and have a tap and pay system which requires no pin and no signature at all.

Sucks to be a US tourist in Canada these days, no idea if its technically allowed, but more and more places around town are putting up signs on the till's that they will not accept any cards without a chip on it, and wont swipe cards anymore.

Steve_

Nope that's the US, that was the whole reason I started the thread!!!

My God, I used chip + PIN in the US, no-one can believe it! I was talking to an expat friend of mine in the US yesterday and he was saying all the same things in this thread, no you must be wrong no way can the US finally be doing this they're utterly hopeless, did you use a foreign card, etc.

NO I USED AN AMERICAN CREDIT CARD IN AN AMERICAN STORE WITH CHIP AND PIN.

When I got the card they asked me if I wanted an EMV chip on it because there is a foreign address on the account and they can issue them to people in case they go abroad.

The total was for $23.50, I inserted my card (should I post a picture so you can see the scratch on the chip) and I typed in my PIN using the stylus. It did happen, it was not a mirage...

Lothianlad

I'd have thought that chipping and pinning was universal! As far as I can recall I have forever been chipping and pinning each time I use any of my cards. You have to be careful when you are holding a contactless card too near the pad...it just might register and be charged when you do not want it to. Look for the symbol and keep well clear.

I never see people signing anything when paying a bill...sounds antediluvian to me.

Sheepdip

Just been told by BoA that my 'tap and go' (NFC/RFID) card is being phased out and will no longer work when the card expires. Not sure if it's security concerns or what but it is pretty handy.