Chip and Pin in the USA

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Quick question:

Does the USA have the same Chip and Pin system as the UK?

Mark G, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 10:31 (nineteen years ago)

no

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

so, do they still make you sign little bits of paper?

Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:00 (nineteen years ago)

I think you just wave a gun about or something.

Noodle Vague, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:01 (nineteen years ago)

little bits of paper at least leave a trail! if somebody nicks your PIN, how are you going to prove it wasn't you?

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:28 (nineteen years ago)

That has become a problem here. Onus is on you to prove it now, rather than the bank to prove it wasn't.

peteR, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:29 (nineteen years ago)

little bits of paper at least leave a trail! if somebody nicks your PIN, how are you going to prove it wasn't you?


They would need your card and your pin. Most shopkeepers don't really check the signature so a pin code is much safer. Also, now the credit card receipt does not mention your complete card number so if they find that, they can't do anything with it.

nathalie, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:30 (nineteen years ago)

Hmm, I was in the USA a few years ago just before we had chip & pin in the UK, and they did seem to have it. At least, they would ask me if I knew my pin and had a console thingy to put it in. This being before chip & pin in the UK I couldn't use it though.

Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:32 (nineteen years ago)

we call them "french fries" here.

teeny, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:43 (nineteen years ago)

nathalie i don't mean the actual purchasing of stuff with a stolen card, which can be done more easily without chip and pin like you say, but going to the bank afterwards to prove that it wasn't you who bought the stuff. with a signature, they can just compare with the signature that they have on file. with chip and PIN, there's no paper trail, no way to prove it wasn't you.

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:46 (nineteen years ago)

There's no question that chip and pin is more secure, but it's far from infallible. The banks say it is infallible though, and from this they conclude that the customer is liable for all expenditure where [it appears] a valid pin was used. In the UK, the customer gets no help from the Ombudsman. Basically, the system is a nice idea, ruined by cunts, as per.

See http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2007/02/08/financial-ombudsman-on-chip-pin-infallibility/ (and the rest of that blog) for more.

caek, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 11:47 (nineteen years ago)

i like chip and pin

i paid with chip and pin when i was in singapore.

in hong kong it was signing.

ken c, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

i presume all places will accept signage if it happens that your chip and pin doesn't work?

what happens at the moment with forrin people who come to UK and use their non-chip-and-pin cards to steal our jobs? they just sign?

ken c, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 12:04 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, most Japanese don't really know their pin code, so I use the old system. (I do this by putting the card in the wrong way, then I can just slide it through.)

nathalie, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 12:06 (nineteen years ago)


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