AMEX Chip and Signature is officially out.

[cardslayer]

Just ordered a chip & sig replacement for my plat. They said I will receive it by Thursday of this week (I didn't even bother to request expedited). I just requested it since I'm eligible and thought it would look cool, as I haven't seen any out in the wild myself. I was surprised when I requested it they asked me Lexis Nexis questions to verify. All in all, not too excited, as I don't quite get how the consumer experience is any different than the current swipe-and-sig that we are all familiar with. Chip & Pin, is of course, another story if/when it's ever available.

[frugalQ]

They should at least include it on their Corporate Amex products since most global companies use them for worldwide business travel.

[bs6054]

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@cardslayer wrote:

All in all, not too excited, as I don't quite get how the consumer experience is any different than the current swipe-and-sig that we are all familiar with. Chip & Pin, is of course, another story if/when it's ever available.

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Yes, in my experience, in the UK anyway, using Chip & Signature is possibly worse than swipe.  Most merchant's expectation seems to be that when you insert the card, you will enter a PIN and everything is automated.  When the machine spits out something you have to sign (and they need to do something with) it is confusing!  In tourist-visited areas, they are also familiar with the concept of US cards needing to be swiped and expect that, so chip&sig seems an inelegant solution that offers neither the security of pin or the convenience of swipe.   Hopefully, real chip&pin will come soon.

[Drew1980]

Great! I requested mine specifically because I'm going to London in a week.

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@bs6054 wrote:

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@cardslayer wrote:

All in all, not too excited, as I don't quite get how the consumer experience is any different than the current swipe-and-sig that we are all familiar with. Chip & Pin, is of course, another story if/when it's ever available.

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Yes, in my experience, in the UK anyway, using Chip & Signature is possibly worse than swipe.  Most merchant's expectation seems to be that when you insert the card, you will enter a PIN and everything is automated.  When the machine spits out something you have to sign (and they need to do something with) it is confusing!  In tourist-visited areas, they are also familiar with the concept of US cards needing to be swiped and expect that, so chip&sig seems an inelegant solution that offers neither the security of pin or the convenience of swipe.   Hopefully, real chip&pin will come soon.

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[bs6054]

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@Drew1980 wrote:

Great! I requested mine specifically because I'm going to London in a week.

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@bs6054 wrote:

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Yes, in my experience, in the UK anyway, using Chip & Signature is possibly worse than swipe.  Most merchant's expectation seems to be that when you insert the card, you will enter a PIN and everything is automated.  When the machine spits out something you have to sign (and they need to do something with) it is confusing!  In tourist-visited areas, they are also familiar with the concept of US cards needing to be swiped and expect that, so chip&sig seems an inelegant solution that offers neither the security of pin or the convenience of swipe.   Hopefully, real chip&pin will come soon.

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Well, I didn't want to give the impression that it's terrible and you will run into problems.   Just no advantage as chip and pin is what all the locals are using!