Australia restriction on creditcards

[Hawaiidan]

Help....on the roll call for a Australian departure and return cruise.I was advised that it is no longer possible to sign for a credit card charge That you have to have some sort of special pin number....This change is recent and is crazy.... I assume you have to apply for some sort of ATM card in Australia to get one... as I have never had a"pin" connected to any credit card and only use credit cards , not cash, for all foreign expense.

 

Please advise as this is the second time I have had , in 4 months, credit card problems in Australia..where a Hotel would not accept a card with a 5 figure open line on it...

[JF - retired RRT]

Check with all of your credit card companies. The US is currently in the conversion stage of using this system. There is a target date, but I don't know what it is.

 

At least one of your credit card companies should be able to supply you with the new cards.

[msmoger]

Check with all of your credit card companies. The US is currently in the conversion stage of using this system. There is a target date, but I don't know what it is.

 

At least one of your credit card companies should be able to supply you with the new cards.

 

For the most part, the new cards the U.S. companies are sending out have imbedded chips for added security but they are not "Chip and Pin". They are still swipe cards. I don't know if this relates to your issue but I figured I'd throw that out there.

[Alaska05]

For the most part, the new cards the U.S. companies are sending out have imbedded chips for added security but they are not "Chip and Pin". They are still swipe cards. I don't know if this relates to your issue but I figured I'd throw that out there.

 

Exactly! I don't understand why the credit card companies aren't going the additional step to allow us to have a PIN. Seems half-a**ed to me. :confused:

 

I too am going to Australia next year and hoping I don't have any trouble. I did get an ATM/Debit card that I will be able to use in emergencies and to get some Australian money once we land.

[beg3yrs]

More information over here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g255055-i120-k7534652-Using_a_U_S_credit_card_without_chip_pin_technology-Australia.html

[kuldalai]

Talk to your Credit Card provider. Australia all.major cards are now PIN authorization only. Signatures went out here August 2014. Also for Credit Card charges under $ 100 Aus not even PIN required. Just tap and go. Australian Credit Card technology with all major card companies is light years ahead of both Europe and USA. So if coming to Aus talk to your card provider and get a re issue with magnetic chip and personal four digit PIN that you nominate.

[toberman]

Talk to your Credit Card provider. Australia all.major cards are now PIN authorization only. Signatures went out here August 2014. Also for Credit Card charges under $ 100 Aus not even PIN required. Just tap and go. Australian Credit Card technology with all major card companies is light years ahead of both Europe and USA. So if coming to Aus talk to your card provider and get a re issue with magnetic chip and personal four digit PIN that you nominate.

 

Same system here in Canada although we can still swipe the card at most places - even then a PIN is required. I like the tap and go system.

[Alaska05]

Talk to your Credit Card provider. Australia all.major cards are now PIN authorization only. Signatures went out here August 2014. Also for Credit Card charges under $ 100 Aus not even PIN required. Just tap and go. Australian Credit Card technology with all major card companies is light years ahead of both Europe and USA. So if coming to Aus talk to your card provider and get a re issue with magnetic chip and personal four digit PIN that you nominate.

 

I have 3 cards with the "chip" but the issuers will not do the PIN as of now. This includes American Express and Chase Visa. I'm hoping something changes between now and March 2015 that they let us assign a PIN to our cards.

[dforeigner]

The chips in the new credit cards (EMV) have nothing to do with the use of a pin.

 

Unlike magnetic-stripe cards, every time an EMV card is used for payment, the card chip creates a unique transaction code that cannot be used again.

 

If a hacker stole the chip information from one specific point of sale, typical card duplication would never work because the stolen transaction number created in that instance wouldn't be usable again and the card would just get denied.

 

EMV technology will not prevent data breaches from occurring, but it will make it much harder for criminals to successfully profit from what they steal.

 

Some credit card companies can add a pin feature but that is not required here in the US.

Edited September 5, 2015 by dforeigner

[Level six]

We are going to Australia in a few weeks. We just called our credit card companies and asked for chip card, we got it in a few days. Just use card and enter pin. If in USA, it is really easy to do, just ask.

[oldjetdriver]

Easy to get card with chip but very few financial institutions offer chip and pin. The only two I have found so far are Wings Financial and Andrews Federal Credit Union.

[St Paul Girl]

As the previous Canadian poster had said, here in Canada we have been on "pin" and "chip" since 2010 and I am not sure what would happen if a NON chipped/pin credit card was used in Canada!

We live in the US for the winter and I also "hate" the idea" that in a restaurant, the waiter will take your credit card away and run it through their reader behind some wall! In Canada, all waiters will bring a cell enabled credit/debit card reader to the table and will process the transaction in front of you.

Makes you wonder why there is so much credit card fraud/stolen identity issues in the US.

Anyway, No Problem with us using our credit cards anywhere.

Have a great cruise.

[Homosassa]

We have both a Discover card and Visa card with a chip and pin (pin not needed in the US but we have pin numbers for foreign travel).

[jig]

I have just left Australia. My story is this. One card, cap one , I had a pin 20 years ago if you wanted to use an atm machine. Same pin. My chase was just swiped and approved. No pin, no sign. A few times in Coles supermarket it did ask for a signature. The clerk was surprised. They also sign at the duty free shop in the airport.

[toberman]

The chips in the new credit cards (EMV) have nothing to do with the use of a pin.

 

Some credit card companies can add a pin feature but that is not required here in the US.

 

That's because in the US you're just upgrading to the new technology and therefore are getting the newest card readers available. Here, many merchants have not upgraded their card readers to the newest available, therefore their equipment still needs a PIN even though the card itself does not require a PIN to be used.

 

As the other Cdn poster mentioned, I love it that we really never have to let the card out of our possession due to the mobile card readers. I really hate that in many places - like the Caribbean - they take your card and actually still use the old paper method, thus having a copy of your cc # forever.

[Steelers36]

Just so no one is scared off, Americans have NP using their cards up here. It will be same thing they are used to at home.

[Hawaiidan]

Australia, Britain and other commonwealth countries many years ago sat down and figured out a "scheme" to get people to give up their credit cards and the bank forced in to giving interest free money to their customers. Thus the selling of the debit card...where the bank gets you to give them an interest free loan and deposit where they play with your deposit !

 

The pin concept is just a sneaky attempt to convert your credit card into a defacto debit card that will improve their profits so they can eventually reducing, slowly the amount they have to advance . By saying its for security sounds so warm and caring...how could you be upset!!!

Trust me they are truly thinking of you and getting deeper into your warm pockets. I don't want a pin...or use a ATM. or have a ATM card. that's why I carry only 2 cards with substantial depth.. I have in 40 years, never had a problem...ever.

 

So this, along with all the Australian taxes and fee charges and% B.S. was the last straw to me....I cancelled the cruise and future plans to end or start in OZ. I have been traveling to Australia since 1997.... and financial situation seems to be getting tougher and tougher......

 

Call it aesthetics if you wish but there comes appoint when all the games just get to you.

[Essiesmom]

Used to be every credit card had a PIN. You had to have it because that was the only way to get cash from an ATM. this was before bank debit cards carried a Visa or Mastercard logo. I used to travel a lot for work, three months here, six there, and the only way to get money, other than to open a checking account at a local bank, was to get cash advances. A couple of years ago, when one of my card companies mailed new chip an pin cards, they pin was the same as it had been for near 30 years. EM

[RDC1]

Australia, Britain and other commonwealth countries many years ago sat down and figured out a "scheme" to get people to give up their credit cards and the bank forced in to giving interest free money to their customers. Thus the selling of the debit card...where the bank gets you to give them an interest free loan and deposit where they play with your deposit !

 

The pin concept is just a sneaky attempt to convert your credit card into a defacto debit card that will improve their profits so they can eventually reducing, slowly the amount they have to advance . By saying its for security sounds so warm and caring...how could you be upset!!!

Trust me they are truly thinking of you and getting deeper into your warm pockets. I don't want a pin...or use a ATM. or have a ATM card. that's why I carry only 2 cards with substantial depth.. I have in 40 years, never had a problem...ever.

 

So this, along with all the Australian taxes and fee charges and% B.S. was the last straw to me....I cancelled the cruise and future plans to end or start in OZ. I have been traveling to Australia since 1997.... and financial situation seems to be getting tougher and tougher......

 

Call it aesthetics if you wish but there comes appoint when all the games just get to you.

 

A pin and chip credit card is still exactly that a credit card, it is not a debit card. Though there are pin and chip debit cards as well. It has nothing to do with giving up credit cards or converting credit cards to debit cards.

 

Guess pretty soon you will not be traveling much then or for that matter even using a card in the US. Pretty much all of the world is going to Chip and pin credit cards and the swipe ones will be phased out. It may take a while due to the time for the systems to be implemented and the merchants readers to be replaced, but it is coming.

 

I expect the change to take place fairly quickly after Oct 1, 2015 because after that date the merchant becomes liable for fraud in a face to face transaction, if done using swipe and sign. That will give merchants a reason to switch to the new chip reading machines.

[RDC1]

Used to be every credit card had a PIN. You had to have it because that was the only way to get cash from an ATM. this was before bank debit cards carried a Visa or Mastercard logo. I used to travel a lot for work, three months here, six there, and the only way to get money, other than to open a checking account at a local bank, was to get cash advances. A couple of years ago, when one of my card companies mailed new chip an pin cards, they pin was the same as it had been for near 30 years. EM

 

Keep in mind that most chip card being sent out in the US are chip and sign, not chip and pin. The pin in those cases is only for cash advance situations. You might want to check and make sure about your particular card.

[coo359a2]

Keep in mind that most chip card being sent out in the US are chip and sign, not chip and pin. The pin in those cases is only for cash advance situations. You might want to check and make sure about your particular card.

 

That's exactly what I was told today by Chase and Capital One - use a pin and it is a cash advance. Both companies knew about "chip and pin" but said it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Only use an ATM card to get cash - never a credit card. It'll be interesting to see what really happens when we get to Australia in January and only have a "chip and pin" card.

[CruiserBruce]

I am in Australia right now. An American DOESN'T have to have a PIN and chip card. We have been here almost a month, no problem with our chip only card. An Australian can only get a PIN and chip card, you can use a standard US credit card just fine.

 

This is discussed regularly on the Australia boards.

 

Same question is commonly asked about Europe, the answer is the same.

Edited September 6, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[NYteacher]

For the past two summers we have travelled in Europe with our American chip and sign credit cards. We use cards that are marketed as specifically being good for travel (no foreign transaction fees, etc). There are some machines where we simply can NOT use our credit cards such as ticket booths and gas (petrol) pumps.

 

We've asked at our bank and they have no indication of when they will move to the pin system.

 

We did (finally) learn that where we simply had to use a chip and pin, we could use our debit card.

[Corfe Mixture]

Talk to your Credit Card provider. Australia all.major cards are now PIN authorization only. Signatures went out here August 2014. Also for Credit Card charges under $ 100 Aus not even PIN required. Just tap and go. Australian Credit Card technology with all major card companies is light years ahead of both Europe and USA. So if coming to Aus talk to your card provider and get a re issue with magnetic chip and personal four digit PIN that you nominate.

 

Not sure why you include Europe in that statement.

 

We haven't had signatures for as long as I can remember, and certainly for at least TEN years.

 

EMV 'Contactless' cards were first introduced over here in 2008 and on line EMV cards, as opposed to EMV electronic wallets which need to be pre-loaded, have been in common use in Europe since around 2012.

 

The only way we are behind you is in the maximum value of 'Contactless' transactions which are limited to £30 (increased from £20 just a couple of days ago) and, with the exception of Eire where the limit is €15, a limit of €25 in the Eurozone.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Corfe Mixture

[caribill]

For the most part, the new cards the U.S. companies are sending out have imbedded chips for added security but they are not "Chip and Pin". They are still swipe cards. I don't know if this relates to your issue but I figured I'd throw that out there.

 

They are not "chip and pin" for the most part, but are "chip and sign".

 

If some Australian vendors are only accepting "chip and pin", the "chip and sign" will not work. This can also be a problem in Europe.