A friend, who will be going with me to Italy in November, has sent me this link, and considers it a potential problem.

I have never had a problem with either credit card (VISA) or my ATM card from my credit union.

But this is an issue that she is quite concerned with, so any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-insider9jul09,1,729...=la-travel-headlines

I wrote a bit on this subject here on our return from Eurpoe earlier this month.

There obviously is a bit of confusion, but as a retailer here in North America (i.e. I understand how the credit card system works) the explanation given to me by a retailer in London made sense.

If your card has the chip (and some North American cards do) then you must have a pin (which you will not have because the system is not in place here).

If your card does not have a chip then the merchant can swipe it and take a signature.

At the moment I would make sure that I had more than one source of funds.

The chip and pin idea seems very sound. This raises the question as to why it is not in place in North America.

Thanks, Sheena, for the clear and succint explanation.

quote:

Originally posted by avvocato:
The chip and pin idea seems very sound. This raises the question as to why it is not in place in North America.

It is coming, which is why some credit cards issued in North America have the chip (my RBC Visa card has it). In Canada there was a recent article about the high cost to merchants for the necessary equipment.

It certainly appears to be cutting down on fraud in the UK.

At the moment if your card is stolen the thief just needs to make a resonable stab at your signature. If that signature is a reasonable copy of your signature then the credit card bank will cover the charges.

With a chip & pin the thief must also have your pin - which makes you responsible for fraudulent charges.

Now the question remains, since the credit card companies will be saving so much money .... will interest rates, currency conversion charges, annual fees etc. be reduced????