Like many Americans who have tried to use their credit cards in Europe, Elliot E. Porter, a historian at San Francisco, has encountered its share of headaches payment. Perhaps the most aggravating circumstances occurred some months ago in Amsterdam Centraal Station, where he learned after the queue to buy train tickets than any of his credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa and American Express is accepted. The problem? They rely on technology rather than magnetic stripe embedded microprocessors, which are increasingly common outside the United States.
"It's a big deal when traveling," said Porter, who traveled back to his hotel for the money, which then had to exchange local currency before returning to the station to wait in a long line of pay for his tickets. He has encountered similar problems in railway stations in Belgium and Great Britain. "I just got super frustrating," he said.
There may be some good news on the horizon for Americans like Mr. Elliot. Some banks have begun experimenting with smart cards and newer technology, known as EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) and are beginning to offer cards to select customers. Wells Fargo has issued cards with embedded chips to about 15,000 customers in the United States-based international travel, which in a test program. JPMorgan Chase offers maps of some of its customers with high net worth this month. Meanwhile, Travelex, a currency exchange company major, began selling a year preloaded EMV debit cards last. Some credit unions have also begun offering credit cards or debit with chips, including agents of the State Credit Union in Raleigh, NC, and the United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York.
It was time. During the last decade, such cards (commonly known as smart cards and PIN-because users punch in a personal identification number instead of signing for purchases) have been widely adopted in Europe as a way to reduce credit card fraud, the information stored in magnetic tapes used in traditional maps can be easily stolen. EMV smart cards, which requires a PIN for authentication, are more difficult to counterfeit and are becoming the norm in other regions, including Canada, Latin America and Asia Pacific. More than a third of payment cards in the world (about 1.2 billion) are EMV capable, with about two-thirds of the terminal box (18.7 million), according to EMVCo, the standards body owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.
But the U.S. has been slow to embrace technology, mainly because of the expense and traders have to take banks to convert to EMV enabled cards and cash registers. U.S. banks also stress that fraud credit card magnetic stripe was not as widespread in the United States as in other countries. (Smart cards and PINs are different from the radiofrequency chip in some American credit cards like American Express Blue card, which allows customers to pay by waving their card at a checkout scanner, instead of swiping it. )
Until companies change their minds, U.S. travelers continue to face problems of payment abroad. The problem is twofold. Even though most European cash registers are equipped to handle U.S. charts, some cashiers just do not know how to treat them. And a lot of automated ticketing such as those currently in train stations, petrol pumps and garages simply do not accept cards without chip and PIN. (ATMs generally recognize and accept the cards of many wonder if they have a chip or magnetic strip.)
So what's a traveler to do? Since the cards are tested by Chase and Wells Fargo have offered only a limited number of high-end customers for the most part, the best option for the rest of us is to make a couple of cards in our wallets and politely insist that the cashier kept trying to drag each credit card as the card reader may be able to recognize the tape and approve the purchase.
That's what Richard Brill, a senior public relations Wilmette, Ill., learned last month while vacationing in Portugal. "In some cases they had to redo it," he said, referring to traders who were able to get their machines to accept his Visa card. When those attempts failed, he tried using his American Express card, which was accepted a number of times, although it also lacks the special chip.
For backup, also consider making a debit MasterCard preloaded called Chip and PIN Travelex Cash Passport, available in pounds or euros, which is equipped with the chip. But use it only when you can not use other cards. Although it costs nothing to use the card, the exchange rate you get by loading with money are not large. For example, in late May, the exchange rate at the down payment on a chip and PIN online Travelex card was about $ 1.50 to the euro. (It may be higher in real stores Travelex.) However, the spot exchange rate, charged by most banks, was about $ 1.42, according to Bankrate.com, a financial research Web site. Even after adding the tax to 3 percent normally changes imposed by the major card issuers in America, it was more expensive to use a Travelex chip and PIN card.
That said, there are transactions - like buying train tickets at newsstands - which you'll need a card from Travelex, the remaining funds can be converted into dollars after your trip.
"It's a big deal when traveling," said Porter, who traveled back to his hotel for the money, which then had to exchange local currency before returning to the station to wait in a long line of pay for his tickets. He has encountered similar problems in railway stations in Belgium and Great Britain. "I just got super frustrating," he said.
There may be some good news on the horizon for Americans like Mr. Elliot. Some banks have begun experimenting with smart cards and newer technology, known as EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) and are beginning to offer cards to select customers. Wells Fargo has issued cards with embedded chips to about 15,000 customers in the United States-based international travel, which in a test program. JPMorgan Chase offers maps of some of its customers with high net worth this month. Meanwhile, Travelex, a currency exchange company major, began selling a year preloaded EMV debit cards last. Some credit unions have also begun offering credit cards or debit with chips, including agents of the State Credit Union in Raleigh, NC, and the United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York.
It was time. During the last decade, such cards (commonly known as smart cards and PIN-because users punch in a personal identification number instead of signing for purchases) have been widely adopted in Europe as a way to reduce credit card fraud, the information stored in magnetic tapes used in traditional maps can be easily stolen. EMV smart cards, which requires a PIN for authentication, are more difficult to counterfeit and are becoming the norm in other regions, including Canada, Latin America and Asia Pacific. More than a third of payment cards in the world (about 1.2 billion) are EMV capable, with about two-thirds of the terminal box (18.7 million), according to EMVCo, the standards body owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.
But the U.S. has been slow to embrace technology, mainly because of the expense and traders have to take banks to convert to EMV enabled cards and cash registers. U.S. banks also stress that fraud credit card magnetic stripe was not as widespread in the United States as in other countries. (Smart cards and PINs are different from the radiofrequency chip in some American credit cards like American Express Blue card, which allows customers to pay by waving their card at a checkout scanner, instead of swiping it. )
Until companies change their minds, U.S. travelers continue to face problems of payment abroad. The problem is twofold. Even though most European cash registers are equipped to handle U.S. charts, some cashiers just do not know how to treat them. And a lot of automated ticketing such as those currently in train stations, petrol pumps and garages simply do not accept cards without chip and PIN. (ATMs generally recognize and accept the cards of many wonder if they have a chip or magnetic strip.)
So what's a traveler to do? Since the cards are tested by Chase and Wells Fargo have offered only a limited number of high-end customers for the most part, the best option for the rest of us is to make a couple of cards in our wallets and politely insist that the cashier kept trying to drag each credit card as the card reader may be able to recognize the tape and approve the purchase.
That's what Richard Brill, a senior public relations Wilmette, Ill., learned last month while vacationing in Portugal. "In some cases they had to redo it," he said, referring to traders who were able to get their machines to accept his Visa card. When those attempts failed, he tried using his American Express card, which was accepted a number of times, although it also lacks the special chip.
For backup, also consider making a debit MasterCard preloaded called Chip and PIN Travelex Cash Passport, available in pounds or euros, which is equipped with the chip. But use it only when you can not use other cards. Although it costs nothing to use the card, the exchange rate you get by loading with money are not large. For example, in late May, the exchange rate at the down payment on a chip and PIN online Travelex card was about $ 1.50 to the euro. (It may be higher in real stores Travelex.) However, the spot exchange rate, charged by most banks, was about $ 1.42, according to Bankrate.com, a financial research Web site. Even after adding the tax to 3 percent normally changes imposed by the major card issuers in America, it was more expensive to use a Travelex chip and PIN card.
That said, there are transactions - like buying train tickets at newsstands - which you'll need a card from Travelex, the remaining funds can be converted into dollars after your trip.
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