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Credit cards and PINS


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But there lies the problem. You have to have the PIN system. I've seen various US travelers here in Canada that cannot pay at the pump for gas because it has to have a PIN code to work. They had to go to the kiosk and physically sign the receipt. I believe that system originated in Europe and Canada adapted quickly to it as well.

I actually have to do this in the US. My European chip and pin card can't be used at most American petrol stations, because they request a 5-digit zip code for the billing address. One, I'm not sure the system can even verify my billing address, and two, Norwegian post codes only have 4 digits. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I have to go inside and pre-pay, and then go back inside after I'm done if I want a receipt with the correct total.

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Apple Pay is extremely new and uncommon in Norway (we have our own payment app from one of the local banks). And we're still wrapping our heads around contactless, so there are some purchase limits in place for using it.

 

From my experience, signature cards (either chip or magnetic strip) are accepted at most manned sales points. Some cashiers may be a bit confused by it, and there is a recommendation to carry a pen for signing, since there isn't always one readily available. The only places that require chip and pin are unstaffed petrol stations, vending machines, etc. Additionally, some very small-scale local merchants may use smartphone-based card readers that can require a chip & pin or even a local debit card. However ATMs are readily available for the very few circumstances where chipless or foreign cards cannot be used.

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I actually have to do this in the US. My European chip and pin card can't be used at most American petrol stations, because they request a 5-digit zip code for the billing address. One, I'm not sure the system can even verify my billing address, and two, Norwegian post codes only have 4 digits. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I have to go inside and pre-pay, and then go back inside after I'm done if I want a receipt with the correct total.

same for Canadians

 

we just have cash ready to pay inside the stations

Most of the world has Chip & pin except the USA

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I actually have to do this in the US. My European chip and pin card can't be used at most American petrol stations, because they request a 5-digit zip code for the billing address. One, I'm not sure the system can even verify my billing address, and two, Norwegian post codes only have 4 digits. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I have to go inside and pre-pay, and then go back inside after I'm done if I want a receipt with the correct total.

What works for Canadians in verifying billing address when they ask for zip code is to use the 3 digits from the Canadian postal code (ignoring the letters) and pad it out with 2 zeros. This seems to have been decided on with the credit card companies.

 

If your Norwegian post code has 4 digits, try adding a zero at the end and it might work.

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Apple Pay should work everywhere in the Baltics except Germany and Estonia. This requires that the shop/vendor has contactless payment option. At least in Finland they are basically everywhere as all the credit and debit cards have the contactless capability.

 

The cashier system will advice the clerk that they are now dealing with chip + signature card and request to act accordingly. This might come as a surprise to most shops as the locals are not using the signature option. The shop can even decline to sell if a pin is not used and they definitely want to see an ID.

 

RE: zip code in US. The general advice for travellers not from US is to use 99999. It works at least with my cards.

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Apple Pay should work everywhere in the Baltics except Germany and Estonia. This requires that the shop/vendor has contactless payment option. At least in Finland they are basically everywhere as all the credit and debit cards have the contactless capability.

 

The cashier system will advice the clerk that they are now dealing with chip + signature card and request to act accordingly. This might come as a surprise to most shops as the locals are not using the signature option. The shop can even decline to sell if a pin is not used and they definitely want to see an ID.

 

RE: zip code in US. The general advice for travellers not from US is to use 99999. It works at least with my cards.

I tried that in Israel and it did not work. I always had to go in to pre-pay and then after to get my receipt.

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I actually have to do this in the US. My European chip and pin card can't be used at most American petrol stations, because they request a 5-digit zip code for the billing address. One, I'm not sure the system can even verify my billing address, and two, Norwegian post codes only have 4 digits. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I have to go inside and pre-pay, and then go back inside after I'm done if I want a receipt with the correct total.

 

Strictly speaking you're not pre-paying, just pre-authorizing. That happens even if you can use the card directly at the pump (when they ask for a maximum transaction amount), but I do find it extremely irritating to have to go inside to do it. There would be no need to enter a zipcode at all if the American banks would just convert to chip-and-PIN like the rest of the world.

 

Fortunately the "three digits of your postal code" trick usually works for me, but I don't suppose that's much consolation to Norwegians.

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Strictly speaking you're not pre-paying, just pre-authorizing. That happens even if you can use the card directly at the pump (when they ask for a maximum transaction amount), but I do find it extremely irritating to have to go inside to do it. There would be no need to enter a zipcode at all if the American banks would just convert to chip-and-PIN like the rest of the world.

 

Fortunately the "three digits of your postal code" trick usually works for me, but I don't suppose that's much consolation to Norwegians.

I repeat. Norwegians might try using the numeric digits of their postal code padded out with zeroes in the same way. It is always worth a try.

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Just back yesterday from a Rhine cruise Amsterdam to Basel with 2 days in Amsterdam to start. We had no problem using our US chip-and-sign credit card - restaurants & shops automatically produced one receipt for us to sign and another to take with us.

 

Oops, just realized this is in the Baltic States forum, so my experience isn’t relevant. Sorry.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Returned from a Baltic cruise on Navigator of the Seas two weeks ago. I used my U.S. VISA card with a chip in tourist places with no problem. They all just printed a receipt for me to sign. I also used it in the outdoor market in Helsinki and for payment on our private tour in St. Petersburg.

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We were able to use our non-pin Citibank credit card for about 95% of our needs. We could not use it to pay at the pump at a gas station in Germany to refuel our rental car. We also could not use it to buy a ferry ticket in Stockholm or Tram tickets in Helsinki from the ticket vending machines. We had to wait about 10 mins in Stockholm for the ticket booth to open so we could buy tickets. In Helsinki we were pretty much out of luck and were left with a pretty long walk from Senate square to the Rock Church and back.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We just recently returned from our Baltic Cruise. We were only asked to supply our pin for one transaction, in Oslo at an outdoor cafe on the Island with the Museums. No other transaction required a pin, even in Russia. Just chip and signature.

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Apple who? nah just kidding.

 

....but its my understanding that its not yet have a good coverage.

 

ApplePay, AndroidPay, SamsungPay, VisaWave, and MasterCard whateverpay are quite prevalent in Russia, at least in bigger cities.

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We were able to use our non-pin Citibank credit card for about 95% of our needs. We also could not use it to buy a ferry ticket in Stockholm or Tram tickets in Helsinki from the ticket vending machines. We had to wait about 10 mins in Stockholm for the ticket booth to open so we could buy tickets. In Helsinki we were pretty much out of luck and were left with a pretty long walk from Senate square to the Rock Church and back.

 

Thanks for the info, this is what I was afraid of in Helsinki. We might just buy the HoHo bus ticket from the cruise line to make life easier although in theory we can pay cash to tram driver for 9 € ticket

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Thanks for the info, this is what I was afraid of in Helsinki. We might just buy the HoHo bus ticket from the cruise line to make life easier although in theory we can pay cash to tram driver for 9 € ticket

 

The train ticket vending machine in Warnemunde also required a pin for credit card. That wasn't the case for any of the other ports where there is a person taking your payment. We used HOHO in Helsinki and purchased it from cruise line. It was very convenient.

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update: we only ever needed a PIN once, to buy a day ticket in Copenhagen. so we had to use our debit card which I don't like to do. We were also able to use ApplePay probably 75% of the time, my husband often paid with his apple watch which surprised many of the clerks.

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