topic Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues? in Credit Cards

Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 03:01:41 GMT

I do not know if I am simply managing to ruin my chip cards by having them in my wallet or whether the chip only has a certain transaction life span? For instance maybe after being inserted 200 times the chip just cannot take it anymore?

It is strange to me because the chips will mess up on some of my cards but not the others (seems to be the ones I use the most).

Today in line my Marvel Card was declined after inserting it twice because it said "chip malfunction" I have had the card for a year and use it almost daily. I guess I am trying to say that the pitiful thing is all scratched up but not on the chip, only on the mag stripe. If I request a replacement will Sycnrchrony screw me over with a new open date?

I had my Redcard chip mess up a few weeks ago it was an ordeal.

The chip on my Amex seems to be messed up as well, last time I inserted it I also got the "chip malfunction/ unable to read chip message" (I just threw it in the sock drawer because I could not be bothered) come to think of it I ended up using my Marvel Card that day when I got the chip malfunction on my Amex. I highly doubt it is connected since I have used my Marvel Card since, or maybe I have not since Discover is in the restaurant category?

I am down to my Disco, Amazon Visa, and Sears Mastercard at this point.

My main question is do you all have chip issues as well? Do you run through chip cards as quickly as I do? Is there any way to better protect my cards?

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

warofkraid — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 03:08:50 GMT

I haven't had a chip failure yet myself on any of the cards I commonly use. Where do you store your wallet? I always have mine in a front pocket and don't sit on it so maybe that could be a reason for failure/damage.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 03:25:32 GMT

I haven't had any problems with chips either. Use cards everyday. Keep them in my wallet and in the back pocket so it gets sat on a lot too. Never any problems.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 03:34:33 GMT

No problems with any of my cards either. The issues I've had I blame terminal issues for.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

NRB525 — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 04:43:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I do not know if I am simply managing to ruin my chip cards by having them in my wallet or whether the chip only has a certain transaction life span? For instance maybe after being inserted 200 times the chip just cannot take it anymore?

It is strange to me because the chips will mess up on some of my cards but not the others (seems to be the ones I use the most).

Today in line my Marvel Card was declined after inserting it twice because it said "chip malfunction" I have had the card for a year and use it almost daily. I guess I am trying to say that the pitiful thing is all scratched up but not on the chip, only on the mag stripe. If I request a replacement will Sycnrchrony screw me over with a new open date?

I had my Redcard chip mess up a few weeks ago it was an ordeal.

The chip on my Amex seems to be messed up as well, last time I inserted it I also got the "chip malfunction/ unable to read chip message" (I just threw it in the sock drawer because I could not be bothered) come to think of it I ended up using my Marvel Card that day when I got the chip malfunction on my Amex. I highly doubt it is connected since I have used my Marvel Card since, or maybe I have not since Discover is in the restaurant category?

I am down to my Disco, Amazon Visa, and Sears Mastercard at this point.

My main question is do you all have chip issues as well? Do you run through chip cards as quickly as I do? Is there any way to better protect my cards?

I would first suspect the card reader, or that the chip malfunction is a fluke, unless you use the same card at multiple merchants over a range of days and they all say Malfunction while other chip cards at those same merchants are working fine.

One instance of chip malfunction is not enough, in my opinion.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 05:08:56 GMT

Thanks everyone for the responses!

I usually keep my wallet in my front pocket or in my bag.

I can see what you mean about blaming the terminal. I am going to lean toward the fact that it's a terminal issue it is just irritating. I ended up inserting my Amazon Visa and it went through fine. I will try my Marvel Card at another store along with the Amex and see what happens.

I had my Redcard decline on multiple days at multiple cash registers in Target which is why I ended up having to get a replacement.

I just find it rather embarrassing because the terminal makes that God awful noise and the cashier has to say try again or try another card.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 05:20:34 GMT

That is a bummer that you're having so much trouble. I did have to replace my debit card because the chip somehow got messed up, but so far so good on my other cards.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Schwartzinator — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 05:24:28 GMT

I keep my AmEx, Disco, and Chase card in a metal money clip in my front pocket so they do get worn down a bit due to the constant friction but knock on wood I haven't had any issues with my chip cards yet..

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Man-Of-Steel — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 05:34:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I do not know if I am simply managing to ruin my chip cards by having them in my wallet or whether the chip only has a certain transaction life span? For instance maybe after being inserted 200 times the chip just cannot take it anymore?

It is strange to me because the chips will mess up on some of my cards but not the others (seems to be the ones I use the most).

Today in line my Marvel Card was declined after inserting it twice because it said "chip malfunction" I have had the card for a year and use it almost daily. I guess I am trying to say that the pitiful thing is all scratched up but not on the chip, only on the mag stripe. If I request a replacement will Sycnrchrony screw me over with a new open date?

I had my Redcard chip mess up a few weeks ago it was an ordeal.

The chip on my Amex seems to be messed up as well, last time I inserted it I also got the "chip malfunction/ unable to read chip message" (I just threw it in the sock drawer because I could not be bothered) come to think of it I ended up using my Marvel Card that day when I got the chip malfunction on my Amex. I highly doubt it is connected since I have used my Marvel Card since, or maybe I have not since Discover is in the restaurant category?

I am down to my Disco, Amazon Visa, and Sears Mastercard at this point.

My main question is do you all have chip issues as well? Do you run through chip cards as quickly as I do? Is there any way to better protect my cards?

Regarding the blue text above: I don't think Synchrony Bank will screw you over with a new open date, but there might be a risk of ending up with an additional tradeline for that account. I kinda got screwed over with a similar scenario recently. I requested a new Marvel card image last month and the new card got lost in shipping. I had heard about the 'quirky' reporting behavior of Synchrony Bank when it comes to replacement cards and actually considered closing the account right then and there. However, I decided to report the card missing and now I have 2 tradelines on my report for this single Marvel account: 1 open and 1 closed. I pulled my full Experian report and the closed account has a status of "credit card reported lost or stolen" and it shows "On Record until June 2019." The new open account does have the original open date for this account (Dec. 2016). The closed account has all of the balance history and the new open account has no balance history yet. It makes no sense to me why they didn't merge all of this data into the new account without an actual (second) closed account reporting. Needless to say, I'll be closing this account soon and have no plans to open any new Synchrony accounts in the future. If you need to request a replacement card and your account number isn't changing, and your replacement card doesn't get lost in transit, I think you will be fine.

Regarding the question you asked about chip cards: I haven't had an issue with any of my cards. They have all been very durable and reliable. However, some of my cards are still getting swiped. This seems to be the case at most sit-down restaurants. And some of my purchases are made with Apple Pay, so the chip isn't always used for my purchases.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:30:42 GMT

Very likely its the card reader terminal that could be the problem. I've had a "chip malfunction" error on the terminal thing about once or twice before.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:58:22 GMT

My chip cards all seem to work as they are supposed to. The only chip-related issue I have had was last year at Jimmy John's. I inserted my NFCU Cash Rewards card and it asked for a PIN and wouldn't let me get around it. I think a lot of times it could be the terminal itself causing the issues.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

zerofire — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 14:47:31 GMT

I have not noticed an increase of chip failure on my cards. I store them well in a leather wallet that I store in the front. Around here almost all the merchants that wanted to upgrade went out and brought new terminals in 2015-2016. Merchants that are upgrading now usually include a new terminal in the process. Newish terminals plus new chip cards that I got in the past year or two and the error rate is almost zero. The only time I had a chip malfunction was when I goofed and failed to fully insert the card to the point that it clicks in so that was user error. The other time I had an issue was because I had two cards with the same number(original and duplicate) and came to a chip terminal with the original. That obviously did not work right since the duplicates codes were the only ones active at the bank. Overall it depends on the area you are in and the merchants you are purchasing from. Most chip terminals will litely scrape the card that with a lot of insertions will cause damage that will just get cleared up by the 3 year replacement. Realistically the chip is quite durable compared to most plastic cards and only weak on cards that are metal with obvious reason. The chip cards should be able to last 3 years to their replacement. It also really matters who made the card since CPI, Gemalto, and Perfect Plastic Printing make most of the good cards. Valid USA and TSYS also make some of the smaller quality cards. There are many banks but there are only a few card manufacturers that make the good plastic that banks can print on.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

HeavenOhio — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 14:59:11 GMT

I can't speak for Synchrony,. But I've had numerous card replacements from Captial One for various reasons, including chip failures and maganetc stripe failures. The card number has never changed, but the expiration date has always changed.

When something fails, I always assume it's the terminal before taking action. If the same thing happens at another terminal, it's time to blame the card. In the short term, the cashier can enter the card number manually.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:49:10 GMT

Update: I inserted my Marvel card today at a different store an the first time it said "chip malfunction" i had pushed it all the way in until it clicked, then I jammed it upward while inserting and it went through. I honestly have no clue what the issue is I shouldn't have to forcefully push the card in an up to get the machine to read the chip.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

ChargedUp — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 01:26:52 GMT

I was doing some back to school/clothes shopping for my daughters and ended up at a Victorias Secret. $96 total.
Insert BoA AAA Rewards, bad chip error/decline/fraud alert text. Clear the alert via text

Insert Chase FU bad chip error/decline/another fraud alert text. Cleared via text.

Insert Discover, same...

Told the girl her register is out of whack and to try another one as something on their end is spooking my card issuers!

Used a neighboring register with Chase FU and it worked no problem.

I've got at least 1000 swipes/dips on most of my cards and that was the biggest issue I've had to date. Other than that, a certain Frys Electronics has to manually enter my Discover, but it works normally at all the others Fry's that I've been to.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

driftless — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 02:16:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Update: I inserted my Marvel card today at a different store an the first time it said "chip malfunction" i had pushed it all the way in until it clicked, then I jammed it upward while inserting and it went through. I honestly have no clue what the issue is I shouldn't have to forcefully push the card in an up to get the machine to read the chip.

This. You need to make sure the card is fully inserted. It takes a push until the card stops.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

MASTERNC — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 12:21:26 GMT

The only card I've had to replace for a chip issue so far is my Target RedCard. One time, it took six or seven tries (and a cashier who rubbed the chip with a piece of fabric) for it to work. My two gripes is there is no fallback for the card if the chip fails (the terminal provided one after three failed attempts but there is no mag stripe on the new RedCards) and Target "deactivates" your account when you order a replacement, yet the replacement card has the exact same info (including security code).

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Artemis092 — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:00:15 GMT

I've had to replace my Amex BCE due to chip malfunction. I had it about a year. Amex just sent me a new card my number stayed the same but the three digit security code changed. Issue date remained the same as well.

Re: Anyone having to replace their chip cards often because of chip issues?

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 20:12:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Update: I inserted my Marvel card today at a different store an the first time it said "chip malfunction" i had pushed it all the way in until it clicked, then I jammed it upward while inserting and it went through. I honestly have no clue what the issue is I shouldn't have to forcefully push the card in an up to get the machine to read the chip.

The Marvel superhero's are trying to save you from overspending. I honestly have not had any issues with any of my Chip cards. Do you live in a massively over-populated place like anywhere in California or NYC/Chicago/Philadephia etc? Just wondering if the places you frequent need to replace their machines already.