audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Do they have foreign transaction fees? For small amounts it doesn’t really matter.
If you're talking to me, the answer is no. Here's a recent third-party review of the Wise debit card: https://transumo.com/wise-card-review/Do they have foreign transaction fees? For small amounts it doesn’t really matter.
That’s fine, I was just curious.If you're talking to me, the answer is no. Here's a recent third-party review of the Wise debit card: https://transumo.com/wise-card-review/
I also had the free Barclay chip-n-pin card years ago. I took it to Europe one or two times and the pin part of the card never worked for me. Not once. I cut up the card and forgot about it. Last year Barclays canceled my card for non-use.
If you use a credit card (not a bank/debit card) in an ATM to obtain cash (regardless if using a pin), this is a cash advance which incurs higher interest rates, starts accruing interest as soon as the transaction goes through (i.e. no grace period), etc. Right?...Many independent German restaurants would not accept ANY credit card so I used my Chip and Pin card in ATM's which by the way almost unconditionally gave me better exchange rates than any of the currency exchange stations.
I'll be in Europe this summer and the car rental company (Hertz) says it reqquires a chip and PIN card to rent. Even a prepaid rental seems to require a chip and PIN card to release the car.
Has anyone else run into this issue with not having a chip and PIN card in Europe? Are there workarounds?
This really is easier than doing the kiosk at the station. You're sitting with your feet up, on the hotel WiFi, no time constraints and not having to defend from pickpockets and the like. You still need to navigate the payment choice, and often that's a chore, but I've usually found a solution. With mass transit, I've found that if they have an app where you can buy fares through the app... that's optimal. You fiddle with aligning your funding source one time, then it's smooth sailing the rest of the visit, and you get real time status on your train/bus, typically.Train stations can be problem especially as the ticket counters often have long lines. But I have had the best luck ordering tickets ahead via an app such as Trainline, even if just the night before, and then using a kiosk if needed to print out a ticket using a reservation reference number, or just showing the tickets from the phone. A lot less pressure than dealing with a machine and a possible time crunch. Seems like in the last year or two everything was etickets anyway - what a relief!
Please do! I've got a Wise account that I opened to pay a UK operator. It's worked well for that. Maybe I'll look into a card. It's linked to a low balance bank account, and that might be a backup for getting cash at an ATM using the credit union Visa debit card..
I'll report back in November and let you know how it goes.
I always appreciate this forum. We're headed to Europe in a few weeks . I never considered adding a PIN to my credit card.
After Reading this I contacted the bank and added a PIN to the card. I'll know in a few weeks if I it was useful.
Thanks to all......GREAT FORUM
If you use a credit card (not a bank/debit card) in an ATM to obtain cash (regardless if using a pin), this is a cash advance which incurs higher interest rates, starts accruing interest as soon as the transaction goes through (i.e. no grace period), etc. Right?
I think you can avoid the interest costs by just putting a few $1,ooo's onto your credit card before you leave. Making it have a surplus of money.
Never tried it, so don't know. Maybe someone else has ?
My understanding is that, in addition to the higher interest rate that begins accruing the day of the cash advance, the credit card company also assesses a transaction fee. For both Citibank and Chase, this fee is currently $10 minimum or 5% of the cash advance amount, whichever is greater. Capital One charges $10 or 3%.If you use a credit card (not a bank/debit card) in an ATM to obtain cash (regardless if using a pin), this is a cash advance which incurs higher interest rates, starts accruing interest as soon as the transaction goes through (i.e. no grace period), etc. Right?
Train stations can be problem especially as the ticket counters often have long lines. But I have had the best luck ordering tickets ahead via an app such as Trainline, even if just the night before, and then using a kiosk if needed to print out a ticket using a reservation reference number, or just showing the tickets from the phone. A lot less pressure than dealing with a machine and a possible time crunch. Seems like in the last year or two everything was etickets anyway - what a relief!
AFAIK my Bank of America Travel Rewards card defaults to PIN just fine in an unattended sales terminal type situation. But a lot of US issued credit cards don’t do that properly. There was a web site where you could see the coding sequence for various cards.One thing to be aware, you need chip and PIN with PIN PRIORITY.
Most US cards may have a PIN but they are likely SIGNATURE PRIORITY.
That means if you go to a restaurant and pay with that card, they will insert the card to the credit card terminal and it will print out a receipt to sign.
These days, you are much better off getting a contactless card from your credit card issuer or putting the thing into Apple Pay or Google Pay and using contactless transactions, which do not require signature.
The places you are going to need PIN PRIORITY cards are for unattended transactions, for instance a kiosk to buy train tickets or to purchase gas at these unattended gas stations. Or a toll booth on the Autoroutes or Autostrada.
Though on the toll booths, I think any chip card will work because for smaller transactions, they're not requiring signature.
So the big problem may be gas stations.
I just filled up yesterday in Spain, came to 24 Euros. It was an attended station so I went inside and used my Apple Watch for Apple Pay.
They did have an old terminal outside where you can insert your card and pay that way.
I do have a First Tech MasterCard with CHIP PRIORITY that Ive used in the past. But I just went inside and used Apple Pay instead, locked the car first.
I just try to avoid these unattended stations, though sometimes that's hard, because in some countries like Italy, they are unattended for like several hours in the middle of the day or 24/7 in some cases.
One thing to be aware, you need chip and PIN with PIN PRIORITY.
Most US cards may have a PIN but they are likely SIGNATURE PRIORITY.
That means if you go to a restaurant and pay with that card, they will insert the card to the credit card terminal and it will print out a receipt to sign.
These days, you are much better off getting a contactless card from your credit card issuer or putting the thing into Apple Pay or Google Pay and using contactless transactions, which do not require signature.
The places you are going to need PIN PRIORITY cards are for unattended transactions, for instance a kiosk to buy train tickets or to purchase gas at these unattended gas stations. Or a toll booth on the Autoroutes or Autostrada.
Though on the toll booths, I think any chip card will work because for smaller transactions, they're not requiring signature.
So the big problem may be gas stations.
I just filled up yesterday in Spain, came to 24 Euros. It was an attended station so I went inside and used my Apple Watch for Apple Pay.
They did have an old terminal outside where you can insert your card and pay that way.
I do have a First Tech MasterCard with CHIP PRIORITY that Ive used in the past. But I just went inside and used Apple Pay instead, locked the car first.
I just try to avoid these unattended stations, though sometimes that's hard, because in some countries like Italy, they are unattended for like several hours in the middle of the day or 24/7 in some cases.
One thing to be aware, you need chip and PIN with PIN PRIORITY.
Most US cards may have a PIN but they are likely SIGNATURE PRIORITY.
That means if you go to a restaurant and pay with that card, they will insert the card to the credit card terminal and it will print out a receipt to sign.
These days, you are much better off getting a contactless card from your credit card issuer or putting the thing into Apple Pay or Google Pay and using contactless transactions, which do not require signature.
The places you are going to need PIN PRIORITY cards are for unattended transactions, for instance a kiosk to buy train tickets or to purchase gas at these unattended gas stations. Or a toll booth on the Autoroutes or Autostrada.
Though on the toll booths, I think any chip card will work because for smaller transactions, they're not requiring signature.
So the big problem may be gas stations.
I just filled up yesterday in Spain, came to 24 Euros. It was an attended station so I went inside and used my Apple Watch for Apple Pay.
They did have an old terminal outside where you can insert your card and pay that way.
I do have a First Tech MasterCard with CHIP PRIORITY that Ive used in the past. But I just went inside and used Apple Pay instead, locked the car first.
I just try to avoid these unattended stations, though sometimes that's hard, because in some countries like Italy, they are unattended for like several hours in the middle of the day or 24/7 in some cases.
I wouldn't put my CC# into a web site like that, but maybe the card's name. Unfortunately the names are so similar you might be looking at the wrong card; there are probably 50 or 100 flavors issued over the years by each of the big banks. This might be best done by calling (gasp) the customer no service number.There was a web site where you could see the coding sequence for various cards.