TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Credit Card With Chip

Hello everyone. First post here at TTOL. I have received a credit card that has a chip in it. It's the "chip with signature" type. I've heard that these can be a problem in Europe, as there, the "chip with pin" is more common. Has anyone had any problems using a CC with chip in St. Martin?

We have a chip with pin and have used it in many places on the island. Some places still have not upgraded their terminals so chip and sign is still available in some places as well. Soon it will be strictly chip and pin everywhere. Even the USA will be going that way in the future, but the banks there are still a bit behind other countries right now.

I believe all USA business terminals will be required to do so by October, 2015.

We also just received a chip and signature card. The information that came with it said it could be used without a pin even at a chip and pin terminal, but we haven't tested that yet. I'll be interested to know your experience, as this is the card we use predominantly on the island.

We have 3 different chip/sig cards and brought them to Quebec City and then to France to try them out. They worked fine in QC...stick the card in the portable CC reader and a receipt spits out for signature...kinda cool and the waiter never touched the card

We tried them in Paris and Toulouse and they did not work at all in gas station pumps, toll booths or train (RER and Metro) machines...PIN needed (not handy if driving to catch an early flight and need gas). They worked as usual (swiped) in manned locations with the card handed over to the human.

It never made sense to me why the USA didn't just go with most of the world to chip/PIN...much more secure...the sig part is useless.

Chip-and-Sign works everywhere except at some unattended terminals. The usual suspects are, as Boucharda wrote, unattended terminals at all-night gas stations, train stations, and toll booths. The latter two don't exist on SXM, and if you buy gas during the day then gas stations shouldn't be a problem either.

All my cc's are still swipe cards. Called Capital One last week and they said they will be issuing the chip cards throughout the year and you can not request one. When the get to me, they get to me. Will I have a problem? (we did last year in the UK and Europe)

My recollection from buying gas both sides of island is that cash is needed. IF the station takes a cc the attendant (they all pump gas for you) has to take the card into the office our you go in and do the transaction. Go with cash.

Today I received an email from Cap One telling me that a new card with chip is being mailed to me. I did not request it, like I did with Bank of America, but I should have it soon. I have only been to one place in the US where my new chip & sign card had to be used in a chip machine at the store. Otherwise, it is the normal swipe & sign.

If I were going to Europe, I'd have to have a chip & pin card.

The U.S. banks are going with chip and signature for the most part. The reasoning is the amount of fraud with actual cards being stolen or lost is very small. The bulk of credit card fraud is with cloned cards where someone gets the credit card number and makes a new card and uses that. The chip is supposed to make that harder.

When Canada switched to chip and pin, one of the banks sent the PIN numbers so far in advance, when the time came to use them, a significant number of users forgot their pins and transaction volume went way down.

I have read one major American bank has decided to go chip and pin, but have not be able to figure out which one. 4 other major banks are going chip and signature.

I have a Canadian bank card and the chip on that card is noticeably bigger than my cards with chip and signature chips on them.

Just request a new card from Capital One tell the card is damaged and they will send you a new card with the chip you can do it on line and get a new card in a weeks time or less.

We traveled to Italy year before last with a normal swipe card, no chip nor pin. The only place we had a problem was at the unmanned terminals in the train stations, so we just used cash there. We were able to pay for hotels and in restaurants with our card, with no problems.

i have a CapOne Venture card that is Chip + Signature...no obvious benefit over the old magnetic strip only cards

although i prefer to use my CapOne, i also carry a PenFed Visa card that is true chip + PIN when traveling internationally...the chip+PIN has been necessary at European unmanned metro/train kiosks and at gas stations after hours when no attendant was working...the chip+PIN card has also been useful buying gas on St. Barth after hours

the PenFed card has no yearly fee nor does it incur foreign transaction fees on purchases <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

islandgem....you indicated that most on the island are switching out their credit card acceptance terminals to "chip with pin". Can a "chip and sign" card be used at a business that is set up with "chip and pin"? I know this is a little confusing....which is why I brought it up. Like others have said, this is my first card with a chip and it's the card I use when on the island. I'd hate to get there and find my "chip and sign" card won't be accepted.

Then you'll get a new number and will have to change all your automatic pays if you are doing that.

if you claim it's lost or stolen, they'll definitely issue a new number, but if you claim it's just not working because of damage and it's still in your possession, they may just issue a new card with the same number

I'm not certain if this applies to all cases, but we were with a group of American friends that had only chip and sign cards and they could not use the chip and pin terminal that the business provided. We had a chip and pin card so we paid with no problem.The French side has a lot of chip and pin terminals, more so than the Dutch side at present.It is the way of the world now.

That is great info. Now if I only had a decent credit history. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I actually had my Capital One Quicksilver Card crack on the magnetic strip last week. When I contacted customer service I requested a replacement card with a chip. They informed me that I had to wait until they were available and that I would have it by October. She more or less told me that they were starting to issue them, and I should just wait until mine showed up. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />
Regards,
Dave

Just had my Capital One Card replaced last week has the same number and 3 digit code.

Dave...its sounds like you and I spoke to the same person at CapOne...or they are all reading from the same script! I tried the "what if its damaged" and got the same answer! Ironically when I went home for lunch my husband just received his new United Airlines CC and wants to use that for our upcoming trip!

So can we still use swipe cards in SXM or have they all gone chip/pin and/or chip/sign?

If I was a betting man I would bet your replacement card will have a Chip.
Please let us no when you get it.

I got my new chip Amex. There is no pin with Amex.
Pin is for ATM/Debit cards.
Simple as that.
irina

Cross your fingers! In January when my Citibank credit card expired, the new "chip" card arrived just in time for a quick 4 day London trip with 2 grandchildren and 2 daughters. Having just returned from a 2 week London/Amsterdam trip in November and having used my "old" strip credit card with no problems, I didn't expect any issues with the new chip. When we arrived in London, I gave the hotel my new chip card (signature only needed, no pin) and it was inserted into the machine. The machine read: swipe. When we "swiped," it read "insert chip." When we "inserted chip," the machine read "swipe." When I called Citi customer services I was told to have the vendor key in the numbers. NO ONE would do this in London. I was also told there was no code, only a signature. Fortunately one of my daughters had a credit card and paid for everything. When we got back to NY, new chip cards were waiting and I did get a phone call from Citibank. The reason was -- bad chip! So, of course, this freaked me out because we were leaving for St. Martin in 5 days and were going to be there for 3 weeks. Could Citi guarantee the new cards would work? I held my breath and took a wad of cash. Happy ending, the chip card with signature worked everywhere we went (but never used it for gas).

From what I've read AmEx is not widely accepted on SXM

When I called Citibank after receiving the chip and signature--it didn't sound like there was any difference than the old swipe either.
They did say there would be NO worries about having the number stolen without a protective cover. That is the chip and pin. I was happy about that.
Haven't had any problems traveling, but have been sticking with ATM's and paying cash.

my amex card has had a chip & pin for a few years.....kate <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/canada.gif" alt="" />

The PIN is not on the chip (chip/PIN) but the CC number is (on both) so that was misleading. Pointless to steal the CC number from a Chip/PIN card without knowing the PIN number.

I am talking about the gadgets they have now that are suppose to be able to read all the info from the card from inside your purse or wallet. But you could be right.....

This is what I am afraid of. If this is the case then the "chip and sign" won't be much use on the island. There are others saying they used "chip and sign" with no problems....thus the confusion continues. Do you remember which side of the island (or was it both) your friends had the problems?

I haven't used my chip and sign card yet, but the instructions say the card will work in the current swipe and sign terminals, which are different than the chip and pin terminals. I really don't see many places giving up their old technology card readers as long as many of us still use the old method.

I've used both Chip-and-Sign and Chip-and-PIN on the French side and in St Barth with no issues, other than the above-mentioned unattended terminals. With a Chip-and-Sign the card reader spits out a slip of paper to sign. With the Chip-and-PIN I enter the 4-digit PIN. I don't recall using either one on the Dutch side. Both types of cards still have a mag strip, so they can still be used in swipe machines.

The problem my friends had was with a chip and pin terminal on the French side. More French side restaurants have replaced their terminals for the new ones. You should still be able to use your card at several places as many have not still upgraded their technology.It is taking a while for everyone to get on board.

The October 2015 deadline to switch POS terminals in the US will not be a law. It will be a liability shift. In other words if there is fraud from a transaction that took place using the old fashioned magstrip, then the liability for that fraud will be with the merchant who did not convert to the pin and chip POS system.
The deadline for ATMs in the US to switch card readers to read the EMV chip is October 2016 and gas stations have the deadline of October 2017 to switch over.

Wildbill,
Nope! They sent a swipe card. No chip.

Regards,

Dave

Sounded like she was reading from a script. I guess they are trying to keep some semblance of order through the conversion process
BTW. I've tossed back a few at the Point Pleasant VFW with some good friends who are members. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/drinking.gif" alt="" />
Regards,

Dave

I saw something about that on 60 minutes or 20/20 a while back. The card with the chip could be in your wallet in your back pocket, and someone could walk by with a small "scanner" (about the size of a pack of ciagarettes), and pass it near your wallet, and "scan" the card for all of the necessary info. I also saw ads elsewhere selling car sleeves that will protect your credit card from the "scanners".

Thats cards with RFID (Radio Frequency ID) chips in them to use with NFC (Near Field Communication) terminals. Thats not the same as EMV chips that we are talking about in this thread.

Correct...and the difference from the swipe cards is that the chip cards generate a code during a transaction that can only be used once vs. the swipe strip which can be duplicated over and over again.

from Citibank: I asked if the chip with signature--not pin would work in Europe at Terminals etc.

"It will work. You can be assured that Chip card will work without PIN."