EMV Chip on Travel Rewards Card--Is it Needed??

How necessary is it to have a credit card with an EMV chip when travelling in Europe?? Is it worth paying an extra $30/year annual fee for??

I'm researching 2% back Travel Rewards Cards. The Capital One Venture card looks really good. According to NerdWallet.com the only card that competes with it is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card which offers the same features plus it has the added feature of an EMV Chip, however the annual fee (after free introductory year) is higher, $89 versus $59 for the Venture card. They say if you are travelling in Europe you will need the chip for some transactions. What kinds of transactions require the chip card? And how much of an inconvenience would it be to not have a chip card?

Just returned from Europe (UK and Romania) in July and I had my new PenFed Platinum EMV chip and pin card, plus my non-chip cards.

I personally would not pay it. They are becoming more prevalent every day as issuers provide new cards upon expiration.

With the exception of one of the automated machines in the tube station, every vendor took my non-chip card -- it declined the transaction with both my non-chip and chip card at the automated machine. I did try my chip-embedded card at a few places, and all of them took it without the pin -- I did have to sign the sales receipt.

My experience has been that most establishments in large cities have the ability to take magnetic swipe cards if you don't have the chip on your card. The chances of non-acceptance increase with automated machines (since there is no way to verify a signature), but as I said, with the one exception, even this was not an issue in the majority of cases.

While it does cut down on fraud (i.e. card skimming), with the US limits on consumer liability, I wouldn't pay extra for the chip feature -- that is something I feel the card issuer should be paying since it cuts down on their fraud liability risk.

-ryan

Thanks

This is really helpful. Thanks. Think I'll stick with plan A, and get the Cap One Venture card.

ivorius said:

The Capital One Venture card looks really good. According to NerdWallet.com the only card that competes with it is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card which offers the same features plus it has the added feature of an EMV Chip, however the annual fee (after free introductory year) is higher, $89 versus $59 for the Venture card.

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I just got the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card and have used it for the last month or so. The annual fee is waived the first year. What attracted me to it was the 40,000 mile bonus I got for signing up.

40,000 miles could be redeemed for a $400 credit to my statement for any travel purchase within 120 days. As I was just about to pay the balance due on an upcoming cruise, that worked out well for us.

There's a lot more info about how their "miles" or points work out that you can get from their website. But, so far it's working well.

We travel to the UK frequently and have had no problems with our swipe cards. However, we have been planning a trip to Normandy and I read that in the countryside chip cards are a must because petrol stations often do not have attendants and will only take the chip cards. One traveler said that they would not have been able to get petrol if a nice local French person hadn't taken their cash and put the charges on his credit card. A $30 difference in fee I think it is worth it.

Will a chip and signature card work in such a situation, or does it have to be chip and pin? I just got a Chase Sapphire card for its great signup bonus, no foreign transaction fees, and I thought it was chip and pin from the ad. It turns out it's chip and signature. I think it will probably be OK in places like restaurants and hotels, where I can sign. But what about unattended locations like gas stations. Am I out of luck?

Thanks,
Bob

Blues said:

Will a chip and signature card work in such a situation, or does it have to be chip and pin? I just got a Chase Sapphire card for its great signup bonus, no foreign transaction fees, and I thought it was chip and pin from the ad. It turns out it's chip and signature. I think it will probably be OK in places like restaurants and hotels, where I can sign. But what about unattended locations like gas stations. Am I out of luck?



Thanks,

Bob

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Yup. Chase told me the same thing when I got their card, but in all fairness there was a lot of misinformation back then. Now there should be none.

Also, by end of next year you'll see lots of banks offering chip and pin in the US.


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Ken555 said:

Yup. Chase told me the same thing when I got their card, but in all fairness there was a lot of misinformation back then. Now there should be none.

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Do you mean "yup, I'm out of luck"? Oh well. And I'm not talking "back then". I just got the card a few weeks ago.

Also, by end of next year you'll see lots of banks offering chip and pin in the US.

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That's what I'm hoping. But I need it for a European trip next June. I already have chip & pin on one card (Alaska Air affinity card through B of A). But it charges the standard 3% for forex, so I was hoping to get both chip & pin and forex-free. Besides, I find you always need at least 2 valid cards when you do foreign travel, because despite calling in to let the CC company know of your plans, they inevitably freeze the card for "atypical" charges. Heck, I once got a card frozen for buying $5 worth of gas in Chicago (I hadn't driven the rental car very far, but had to fill it anyway). But of course, I hadn't let the CC company know because I had thought that Chicago wasn't a foreign country. I may have been wrong about that though

-Bob

Blues said:

Do you mean "yup, I'm out of luck"? Oh well.

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Yup.

And I'm not talking "back then". I just got the card a few weeks ago.

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Yeah, that's the point. There should not be any confusion these days at the bank regarding if they offer a chip and pin or chip and signature card. They should be expected to know their product and inform you accurately.

FWIW, again, I had the same confusion with Chase. Even worse, when I called to inquire about details they confirmed it was chip and pin when it really is chip and signature.








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I just got back from Europe, and was at an unattended gas station that would not take my swipe card. However, it would take my debit card since it had a pin associated with it. Other than that, we had no issues with any vendor accepting our non-chip cards (this was in Brussels, Luxembourg and Germany).

Just another data point.

Kurt