@evil_ducky wrote:
Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I've been wondering about the future implications of the new Chip and PIN cards. With certain merchants that only accept debit rather than credit cards, such as Costco or ARCO gas, they allow you to swipe your [credit] card but then request your PIN at which point you become stuck and have to sheepishly ask the cashier to start over. If credit cards have PINs attached en masse soon, what's to stop us from using credit cards anywhere we like?
I believe the network attached to your card would be the limiting factor. In your example for Costco, they take AMEX, but don't take any other credit cards. When you use your debit card with a pin at Costco, it runs it through your banks network, instead of the major network used if you select to run it as credit (i.e. Visa or Mastercard). If you had a Visa credit card at Costco, even though it was a chip + pin, it would still run over the Visa network, meaning it would be declined.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@14Fiesta wrote:
@evil_ducky wrote:
Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I've been wondering about the future implications of the new Chip and PIN cards. With certain merchants that only accept debit rather than credit cards, such as Costco or ARCO gas, they allow you to swipe your [credit] card but then request your PIN at which point you become stuck and have to sheepishly ask the cashier to start over. If credit cards have PINs attached en masse soon, what's to stop us from using credit cards anywhere we like?I believe the network attached to your card would be the limiting factor. In your example for Costco, they take AMEX, but don't take any other credit cards. When you use your debit card with a pin at Costco, it runs it through your banks network, instead of the major network used if you select to run it as credit (i.e. Visa or Mastercard). If you had a Visa credit card at Costco, even though it was a chip + pin, it would still run over the Visa network, meaning it would be declined.
I'm not sure what that even means! If I have a debit card from Little-Bank-In-The-Marshes, it doesn't have its own network tht Costco would connect to. The card will have a Visa Debit, MC Debit type logo, and the transaction would run over that network. Now I'm sure there are protocols so that if the store requires debit cards, only debit cards will be able to be processed over that network.
Just like here, when I use a UK Chip&Pin debit, the user experience is exactly the same as using a UK Chip&Pin credit card, except that the money is taken out of my account
Alright, I misspoke a bit. Let my try to clarify. No each bank does not have its own network for debit transactions. They are still contracted through networks, just not major credit card networks. Instead they are sent over ATM/ interbank networks. For me, the network used is listed in small print on the back of my card (Accel Exchange). When I use it as debit and enter a pin, it runs over AEs network, who contacts the bank to see if there is money available for the transaction. The ability to run Debit cards as credit is because of the fact that they are co-branded with the Visa-MC network. If I use a pin, it never actually goes to Visa. Ever thought of why you can only get cash back when you use a pin? Can Visa/MC credit cards get cash back at the checkout? No. And their network isn't set up to support debit + signature transactions to have cash access either.