Credit card use at DLP

[Lizboo]

DH was speaking to co-worker of his that had just come back from a Paris trip. He said our chip Visa cards don't work in Paris and the code is 5 digits instead of our 4 (in Canada). Is this true at DLP? Other places in Paris??
TIA

 

[delboydell]

your pin is hard encoded onto the card - they work just fine

 

[Carrie_Cat]

The pincode in France on cards is 4 digits like everywhere else.

Your cards will work fine here

 

[Lizboo]

Now I am off to find DH's co-worker who freaked us out for no reason..

Thanks for the replies and the reassurance

(Getting so excited for our first DLP trip)

 

[Vala]

Not sure if it's any different with a Canadian chip card, but my German chip Visa always came up as "signature required". Confused the hell out of some CMs. But payment was no problem.

 

[sayhello]

Hi. What if you're an American with no chip in your Visa card OR a pin, 4-digit or otherwise?

Sayhello

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Hi. What if you're an American with no chip in your Visa card OR a pin, 4-digit or otherwise?

Sayhello

Hello,

I've no idea ... In the 80's and 90's before chip/pin here we had to provide our id card when our visa cards went through a "sabot" machine to prouve it was ours.

I haven't seen these machines since then as everyone has either chip or pin or both

I suggest you check with your bank if this is your only form of payment as you might need another card

Foreign cards will often ask, like Vala says, for a signature but the details are read of the chip

 

[numbersix]

The old Post Office VISA prepaid Travel Money Card didn't have a chip, it had to be swiped, and worked just fine. Saying that, I never once saw anyone in France actually check my signature, either in DLP or anywhere else!!

 

[tennisfan]

The old Post Office VISA prepaid Travel Money Card didn't have a chip, it had to be swiped, and worked just fine. Saying that, I never once saw anyone in France actually check my signature, either in DLP or anywhere else!!

I have experienced the same, even having the card handed back before I signed anything

 

[Carrie_Cat]

The old Post Office VISA prepaid Travel Money Card didn't have a chip, it had to be swiped, and worked just fine. Saying that, I never once saw anyone in France actually check my signature, either in DLP or anywhere else!!

That it had to be swiped is normal seeing that it is a foreign issued card, that will still happen a lot today, what is not normal is that no one checked your signature/identity as it's the only protection that the cardholder and the retailler has against fraud.

How did the PO Visa cards work then I wonder especially being pre paid to tell them when you had no more credit on there if there wasn't some form of chip to store the information Could have been on the magnetic strip ?

 

[anthony2k7]

That it had to be swiped is normal seeing that it is a foreign issued card, that will still happen a lot today, what is not normal is that no one checked your signature/identity as it's the only protection that the cardholder and the retailler has against fraud.

How did the PO Visa cards work then I wonder especially being pre paid to tell them when you had no more credit on there if there wasn't some form of chip to store the information Could have been on the magnetic strip ?

i think it used to be quite common in France (maybe in other parts of europe as well?) for retaillers to not check or even ask for a signature if the purchase was less than a certain amount.

In the future I think some contactless cards and NFC mobile phone payments wont require any kind of signature or pin either up to a certain value.

As for PO Visa cards, I assume when they're swiped the till/machine goes off and dials a bank/visa and does a credit check just like any other credit or debit card payment does.

 

[BriarRose59]

I just used my Visa and American Express cards last week at DLP. I am from the US and had no problems. You just have to sign a receipt, just like at home.

 

[numbersix]

That it had to be swiped is normal seeing that it is a foreign issued card, that will still happen a lot today, what is not normal is that no one checked your signature/identity as it's the only protection that the cardholder and the retailler has against fraud.

How did the PO Visa cards work then I wonder especially being pre paid to tell them when you had no more credit on there if there wasn't some form of chip to store the information Could have been on the magnetic strip ?

I'm no technological whizz-kid, but I am guessing it was in the stripe and then the till contacted the central bank thing. I just kept a note of my spends to make sure I didn't go over!

At CDG, I bought a couple of coffees, and the pen they gave me to sign with ran out half-way through my signature. The woman behind the counter had already given my card back, and didn't notice that the signature wasn't complete or that her pen was dead!

 

[numbersix]

The new Post Office Travel Money Card Plus is a Mastercard, with a chip.