Chip & PIN Credit/Debit card acceptance in France

[gpl007]

Morning all.

I travelled extensively in Europe last year, including a 3 week stint driving around France. We ran in to issues with our Credit/Debit cards not working in Toll Booths or the automated (ie. unmanned) Petrol Stations. Whilst it's usually possible to pay with cash, sometimes you find yourself in a lane that doesn't accept it - or seeking petrol at a time or day when there is nobody on duty to take cash.

My parents will be doing a similar trip this year and I thought I'd reach out to see if anyone has recent experience with specific cards which do work in these machines?

Of the 8 cards we had between us, the only one that worked was a Westpac Debit card. I found a post in a thread from 2011 suggesting that Westpac encrypt PINs on the chip on their cards (unlike most operators) which seems to support that experience (http://www.australianfrequentflyer....cussion/chip-and-signature-not-pin-29392.html), but I'm wondering if that is still the case - would a NEW Westpac card work the same as an older one?

Ideally they'd rather use a card more suitable for travel like 28 Degrees or one of the rechargeable ones, so if anyone can confirm one like that which works I'd appreciate it.

 

[opusman]

Using credit cards in Europe (particularly France) has always been a problem - I remember issues when travelling in the early 90s and things have obviously not improved.
Generally automated transactions are much more prone to failure compared to a manual transaction, as you've found.

The last time I was in France I used an ANZ Visa with chip + pin and don't remember any issues, but obviously YMMV.

 

[DaveB]

We also experienced problems in France last August with no issues in Italy, Spain or Ireland. Amex's (NAB and Edge) were problems with Citi Visa Select working most of the time though think that even crashed once and had to pay cash near the spanish border. 'Loved' the chaos at each tollbooth as cars had to drive diagonally across sometimes five or six lanes to get to one or two booths accepting cards.

 

[Tarra48]

28 Degrees card has the same issues.

I have just come back from 2 months in France. I used a 28 Degrees MasterCard for purchases and a Citibank Plus debit card for cash withdrawals - (to save on fees)
Both have a pin, but in both cases, the pin was not asked for and required a signature instead - this confused a number of shop assistants, as they are so used to pin only cards. It also made it almost impossible to travel on toll roads, and we had to make sure we didn't need petrol at night or on a Sunday when only the automatic petrol pumps were available.

I would be really keen to find a low fee card that has a pin that works in France, as returning next year, but suspect that this is the price you pay for avoiding international transfer fees.

 

[oobi doobi]

28 Degrees card has the same issues.

I have just come back from 2 months in France. I used a 28 Degrees MasterCard for purchases and a Citibank Plus debit card for cash withdrawals - (to save on fees)
Both have a pin, but in both cases, the pin was not asked for and required a signature instead - this confused a number of shop assistants, as they are so used to pin only cards. It also made it almost impossible to travel on toll roads, and we had to make sure we didn't need petrol at night or on a Sunday when only the automatic petrol pumps were available.

I would be really keen to find a low fee card that has a pin that works in France, as returning next year, but suspect that this is the price you pay for avoiding international transfer fees.

28 degrees card people contacted me today stating my C.C had been cancelled as it was compromised in the USA. I have been back 2 weeks and used it mainly in Montana but had to sign on most transactions. The card was apparently used in a Walmart store in California but was stopped when a 2nd transaction was attempted as I had informed 28 deg of my travel dates prior to departure.

his is the 2nd time my 28 deg card has been cancelled. Some years ago it was compromised after travel to Singapore but on that occasion it was not stopped until it ran out of funds. Once again I was back in Perth when notified.

 

[robd]

28 degrees card people contacted me today stating my C.C had been cancelled as it was compromised in the USA. I have been back 2 weeks and used it mainly in Montana but had to sign on most transactions. The card was apparently used in a Walmart store in California but was stopped when a 2nd transaction was attempted as I had informed 28 deg of my travel dates prior to departure.

his is the 2nd time my 28 deg card has been cancelled. Some years ago it was compromised after travel to Singapore but on that occasion it was not stopped until it ran out of funds. Once again I was back in Perth when notified.

I had trouble last year in France and again this year in Honolulu, when 28 Degrees suspected fraud. On both occasions, I had informed them what dates & where I would be and there was no reason to block transactions that I was putting through. It makes me wonder whether phoning them with travel details is worth it when it seems they don't check file notes before blocking the card.