British Expatriate Network

Hello Everyone,

Just returned from a Trip to Blighty, I see there has been some posting about the dreaded "Chip and Pin" cards, thought I would relay my experiences.

Overall I had no problem, from shops, to pubs, to pretty much everywhere. As long as you mention when you hand the card over that its a Magnetic Strip, Not Chip and Pin, they took the card. If I didn't say anything, they tried to have me put it in the chip and pin thing, or tried to do it themselves.

There was a couple of times I had pushback, funnily enough both tourist spots, one of them the Lounge at Manchester Airport when they were insistent it was Chip and Pin or Nothing, and a couple of times a Manager had to come, but in other places they were relived it was Magnetic Strip as it went through faster! So go figure, as they say here.

I would say a lot of the problems I had was due to clerks/assistants having "chip and pin" drilled into their Brains, but other than that I would say if you are going "home" you should be safe, any problems just ask for a Manager.

HOWEVER....

It was not all plain sailing, if you were one of the recent lucky recipients of a new ATM/Debit card and have a Holographic Strip on the back, you might want to call your bank and see if it will work in Cash Machines, I got a new card just before I left. Could not get cash out to save my life, and it was Saturday! Called the Bank back in the US (Wells Fargo). "Oh yes, you could have problems with that new strip, we will have to send you another card with the old style strip". Funny thing was it worked as a debit card no problem. Long Story short it took a trip to the Bank, the Following Monday, with Passport in Hand as ID, to get cash over the counter.

Any other Questions feel free to ask...

But it was good to go 'Home" and good to be back home when I was done.

David.

Thanks for that.
I just recieved my new debit card with a new holograph strip.
I will take my old one with me next week.

Glad I could be of help -)

If you do end up having to go into the Bank to get cash over the counter (which was Wells Fargos Suggestion when I mentioned that then sending me a new card to my house in Texas was not going to help me in the UK on Holiday right now!) Well let me relay my experience.

- Go to a Main City Centre Branch, my first trip to a Bank in my Parents Village, you would think I was asking for a Million Pound Loan, not 150 GBP Over the counter. mrgreen'

- Take Your Passport with you, you will need ID and they don't like US Drivers Licences wink , explain your an ExPat.

- It did take a Few Banks to find one that would help. HSBC (formerly Midland) did not want to know, "as I was not an HSBC Customer" Ironic as they were the ones who helped open the Wells Fargo Account for me when I Emigrated! FWIW I scored at Barclays in the end.

Hope that helps, or more importantly you can play the Hole in the wall and Win, saving yourself the bother of the above!

David

My experience was basically the same. Chip and pin was everywhere but I gave them my credit card and they were non-plussed for a second and I had to tell them to swipe just liked they used to. 1 exception was a jewelly store where the girl behind the counterm insisted they only did chip and pin and I knew she was wrong but paid by cash so I didn't have her in tears.

Last year in Ireland I had to go inside a bank to get money with the passport as the ATMs wouldn't give me anything. I had no problem at all with doing that.

More bad news re Debit Cards
http//techweb.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=181502468&pgno=1

My mate who is sound engineer at the radio station here found that his account was compromised today - US Bank.

Something like 3 transactions, recorded as Visa charges to Western Union and Paypal for about a thousand at a time!

I had no problems either last week, particularly in Cambridge and London where tourists were more likely to be.

I did have one incident with a particularly thick girl that didn't seem to get that I could be both British and have a foreign credit card at once but it was in a very small town.

Does Cornwall only see debit cards when the Emmets visit? :wink:

evil Cheeky sod!

so if they dont swipe the pin and chip cards how do they read them?
My cousin had one a few years back over here and the darn chip kept falling out.

The customer inserts the side of the card with the chip in it into the new machines that all merchants now have. At the appropriate moment they are asked to put in their Pin Number, much the same as They do with Debit cards here, then the transaction is processed.

The Big thing about it is that you don't have to hand over your Card and there is no signature required.

David.

I had two Chip and Pin cards issued back in 2004 when they first came out. Both work fine at most ATMs over here, but they don't work at some checkouts and gas stations where you pay at the pump.

What's a CHIP and PIN for gawds sake?

Not that I'm going to be spending much when I'm there for 5 days, just fly in quick zip to Bath and to say hello to Mum for a couple of hours then off to Donington, MotoGP and then back to Heathrow and back to sanity....

Andrew )

Its all here-

http//www.chipandpin.co.uk/

But essentially all credit/debit cards in the UK now have a smart chip embedded in the front, which is what is used to get the customers account info instead of the old magnetic strip.

Instead of signing for the purchase, you now put in your PIN number when requested, much the same way you do here for debit card purchases.