Chip and Pin

[Bottom]

Has anyone tried this yet? I dont think it is any better, If you have someone behide you in a shop they can see you entering your Pin, Then go outside they Mug you and clear your account out.

[Oneeyedvic]

I agree - although they are used in most countries and have been 'proved' to be safer.

Being cynical, I think it is for the credit card companies to make sure you know your pin number so that you can ake money out of the hole in the wall and be charged astronomical amounts!

 

[maximo]

The advantage I can think of is that, if someone steals your card, they won't be able to use it, provided you haven't written down the pin number anywhere near the card ( never keep the number in your wallet, for example) . However, this will apply only as soon as it has become the only way to use it ( if you can still sign the receipt as an alternative, then it's useless.). Voila !

[undercovers]

you do have to be a bit more careful, like you would if someone was right behind you at the cashpoint, i think its a great idea.

[Hgrove]

It has been the norm in France and other countries for ages without having more problems than with the traditional signature method.  As for the PIN, you have to use the same precautions as at a cashtill.  I have used it a few times already and like it.  I still remember with annoyance, a no. of years ago, a stupid cashier claiming that my signature did not match the one on the card.  I told her to get the manager and ask for a second opinion but she not sufficiently fluent in English to understand.  Worst of all, I realised all the people in the queue were becoming hostile to me!!! Where I was expecting solidarity!  As if it was my fault.   This cannot happen now.

[Oneeyedvic]

no, but i have been in a queue where someone can't remember their pin number - just as annoying - had to pay by cheque in the end.

 

[Pinotage]

Chip & Pin is of benefit to the banks; it is of no benefit to you the consumer.

If there is a transaction on your card that you did not make, at the moment you can ask them to prove you made it by showing you a copy of the slip with your signature on.

With Chips & Pin they will just say that you must have made the transaction or not kept your number safe and its your fault.

 

[Hgrove]

That is true Pinotage, but the same applies to withdrawals made from a cash dispenser (hole in the wall).  I remember once a wages cheque I paid in had not cleared and when I went to see someone at my bank he immediately asked:  have you kept all of your withdrawal slips?  I laughed and I said, of course not, what's the point, you can always say that I lost one or done other withdrawals and forgotten about it!!!  He started giving me some strange looks and he said that he knew for a fact that I had already spent all my wages because he came across this sort of situation all the time!  I kid you not he said that!  After much effort I convinced him to look at my recent history (he had been saying there was no point because obviously I had already spent it) and eventually, sheepishly, he found that the cheque had simply cleared late.  He would not apologise but at least he said that they would not charge me the overdraft fee - the least he could do in view of his paternalistic attitude.  But coming back to your objection, it is valid, but then we'd have to stop using the switch for cash withdrawals from the cash dispenser, the credit card for all sorts of transactions...

[stevie21]

If someone can see which PIN you're typing in then I suggest that you're at fault and not the bank or the shop.  It's not very difficult to cover the keypad while typing it in.  Chip and PIN will reduce fraud where the card is physically present (it's already proven to be able to do so in various other countries!) but may just shift it to "card not present" transactions such as phone or internet. 

To Pinotage, what's the difference between your scenario and the bank looking at a signed slip and saying "that looks like your signature to us" ??

Oneeyedvic - are we blaming the bank for a customer forgetting their PIN now?

If this thread is a gauge of you guys' mood on a Friday of all days then I really worry about you! 

[sweetheart]

Oneeyedvic, good answer - I never thought of it in that way before, but well said.