Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Chip and signature cards
Old 01-05-2015, 10:58 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Chuckanut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,173
Chip and signature cards

According to this article in the WSJ, American banks will be giving us chip and signature cards this year. Apparently, they believe their customers will find chip and pin cards to inconvenient.

"U.S. bank executives said they are choosing the signature version so customers won’t be burdened at the checkout line to remember a new four-digit code."

Why New Credit Cards May Fall Short on Fraud Control - WSJ

Sorry if the article is behind a pay wall.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy

The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
Chuckanut is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 01-05-2015, 11:17 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,401


I think US banks are underestimating the intellectual capacity of the American public. It's really not that difficult to remember a PIN.
Meadbh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2015, 11:42 PM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Sunset's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spending the Kids Inheritance and living in Chicago
Posts: 17,010
Since Americans don't like using the dollar coin, I'm not surprised by the thought they will find the chip and pin a pain.
Getting rid of the $1 and $2 and the 1 cent makes so much sense, yet nobody wants to do it in the USA.

In Canada, they use the dollar coin and $2 coin got rid of the 1 cent, and they use chip and pin Credit cards.

When you stick in the Credit Card, it locks in (at gas stations) and then you have to do the pin and make other selections, then it unlocks the card and allows you to remove it. Then you pump gas.

When you buy something at a store, you don't swipe, you stick in the correct end of the card, wait for it to ask for pin, enter pin, wait for it to say "valid" or "wrong pin" , then if "valid" you can take out the card.

So yeah, it is a pain to use, because its more than remembering a pin.
Sunset is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2015, 11:44 PM   #4
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,473
Unbelievable!

We remember PINs all the time for other purposes. It isn't THAT tough.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 03:35 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
audreyh1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,008
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadbh View Post


I think US banks are underestimating the intellectual capacity of the American public. It's really not that difficult to remember a PIN.
Yes, especially since US customers have been using debit cards with pins for over a decade.

The bank executives are lying. What the banks really want is to maintain the higher fees associated with processing signature transactions.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
audreyh1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 05:00 AM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,204
And many who can't remember a PIN will write it on their card.
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 05:44 AM   #7
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,199
That story was just sad, but not too surprising.
However, some (if not most?) chip & sign cards will also work as traditional chip & PIN cards in some situations. I had both a Visa and a MasterCard with me in Europe last year, and both worked as chip & PIN when I needed them to (train ticket kiosks, etc.), although the Visa defaulted to chip & sign at most restaurants.
braumeister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 05:50 AM   #8
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
donheff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,318
The whole mess is irritating. I wanted a chip and pin for use in machines other than ATMs overseas - for example, some bike sharing systems require C&P cards. All I could get from my banks are chip and signature. They ought to at least offer a choice.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
donheff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 05:56 AM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
gauss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,594
No bank wants to be the first to impose Chip and Pin when their competitors are offering Chip and Signature due to the perceived risk of loss of market share.

NPR aired a news story on Monday (1/5).

-gauss
gauss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 06:38 AM   #10
Full time employment: Posting here.
Jack_Pine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
My Chase card is chip and signature and I don't see what it adds to security. Now if is was chip and pin, I would totally get that.

Anyone can steal my card and forge my sig. The other way they would have to know my pin.
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
Jack_Pine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 07:30 AM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,282
The WSJ article suggests that there are no cards for online purchase safety. But there are. Currently, I use the BOA ShopSafe system. But more convenient ones exist where a computer chip is included on the credit card and the pin is dynamic fir online purchases.
NagraID Security But, if our banks do not trust us with a pin, they will not invest in this next generation of technology unless we demand it.
savory is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 07:35 AM   #12
Moderator
sengsational's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 10,656
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_Pine View Post
My Chase card is chip and signature and I don't see what it adds to security. Now if is was chip and pin, I would totally get that.

Anyone can steal my card and forge my sig. The other way they would have to know my pin.
It adds security by making sure the original card is present at the time of purchase, as opposed to the one the bad guy skimmed at the gas station, or the one copied by the bad guy at thr restaurant. The banks are too big to care to do anything that would be more efficient...that's going to take an upstart. You'll probably see chip and pin at some entity trying to break into banking (did anyone think "Walmart"?)
sengsational is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 07:58 AM   #13
Full time employment: Posting here.
Jack_Pine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
Quote:
Originally Posted by sengsational View Post
It adds security by making sure the original card is present at the time of purchase, as opposed to the one the bad guy skimmed at the gas station, or the one copied by the bad guy at thr restaurant. The banks are too big to care to do anything that would be more efficient...that's going to take an upstart. You'll probably see chip and pin at some entity trying to break into banking (did anyone think "Walmart"?)
Good point. Actually Walmart is the only place that has made me use the chip feature of the card so far.
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
Jack_Pine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:06 AM   #14
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,473
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_Pine View Post
Anyone can steal my card and forge my sig. The other way they would have to know my pin.
Yes, and how often do stores actually LOOK closely at the signature on the back of one's card, and compared it with one's signature? Not often as far as I can tell.

I don't think the signature is any kind of security at all for us.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:19 AM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
audreyh1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,008
Quote:
Originally Posted by braumeister View Post
That story was just sad, but not too surprising.
However, some (if not most?) chip & sign cards will also work as traditional chip & PIN cards in some situations. I had both a Visa and a MasterCard with me in Europe last year, and both worked as chip & PIN when I needed them to (train ticket kiosks, etc.), although the Visa defaulted to chip & sign at most restaurants.
A chip and signature card won't work this way. You really have to get a card that is explicitly a chip and PIN card. Unfortunately, the optional PIN available for the signature card to is only for cash advances.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
audreyh1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:24 AM   #16
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
audreyh1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,008
Quote:
Originally Posted by gauss View Post
No bank wants to be the first to impose Chip and Pin when their competitors are offering Chip and Signature due to the perceived risk of loss of market share.

NPR aired a news story on Monday (1/5).

-gauss
I don't believe this. Especially since the US issued chip and PIN cards default to signature priority. You don't even know the difference until you try to use it in an automated kiosk.

So, IMO, the above line about perceived risk of loss of market share is just an excuse to mask the real issue - fear of lowering of transaction fees.

There are US issuers. I got one last year, and a lot of people have jumped through hoops to get a true chip and PIN card for use overseas. The US media does NOT understand the whole story.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
audreyh1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:28 AM   #17
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 6,008
I have signed all of my CC transactions with Zorro and have never been questioned once.
Fermion is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:29 AM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
mpeirce's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
Quote:
Originally Posted by davef View Post
The WSJ article suggests that there are no cards for online purchase safety. But there are. Currently, I use the BOA ShopSafe system.
I also use BofA Shopsafe. It's a minor inconvenience, but I really like the one use numbers it hands out. I use it for all online shopping, except Amazon. I probably should use it with them too, but they make it so darn convenient to just keep a cc on file and use that.

I truly hope we move from the chip and signature/pin card phase and quickly adopt ApplePay and Google Wallet like solutions. My wife has an iPhone 6 and uses ApplePay at Meijer and a few other places. It's very convenient and very secure. I hope more stores support it by the time I get a new iPhone next fall.

So far the Apple biometrics (finger print sensor) has held up pretty well.
mpeirce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:31 AM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
MRG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_Pine View Post
Good point. Actually Walmart is the only place that has made me use the chip feature of the card so far.
Walmart was the first around here. Now some area grocery stores have dual readers too.

My Fidelity AMEX has been replaced 3 times in the last year(2 were chip and sign). The last replacement, after the Home Depot breach, was no chip, just swipe and sign. Maybe they couldn't make enough replacements.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
MRG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2015, 08:52 AM   #20
Moderator
rodi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,171
Audrey and Braumeister - who issued your chip and pin (that defaults to chip and signature)...

I'm heading to Europe this summer and want to make sure I have options.

I think I recall from an older thread that one of them was Penfed... is that right? How well did it work at kiosks. (We're doing a lot of train travel so kiosk use would be nice)
__________________
Retired June 2014. No longer an enginerd - now I'm just a nerd.
micro pensions 6%, rental income 20%
rodi is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Chip and PIN credit cards for Europe audreyh1 FIRE and Money 770 02-17-2019 02:18 PM
Any suggestions ... ( Chip and PIN Credit Card)? wanaberetiree Travel Information 1 04-17-2014 08:48 PM
moving chip to a newer phone modhatter Other topics 3 03-04-2012 05:14 PM
GM bankruptcy as auto bargaining chip? pedorrero FIRE and Money 1 11-22-2008 05:40 PM
PNY Memory Chip (camera) kaneohe Other topics 1 09-09-2008 06:50 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:36 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.