topic Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!) in Credit Cards

AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:59:28 GMT

Hey Forum,

Just wanted to throw a heads up that I inquired about my AmEx Blue Cash preferred's upgradability to chip and PIN (or chippy sig) and low and behold, it's apparently coming really soon! One more week or so.October 16th!

On the topic of convenience however, I wonder if the card is actually tap and go compliant as well. That really is the most convenient way to pay, especially with low dollar transactions. In playing around with chip and PIN and paying with PayPal at work (enterprise retail software company), tap and go is hands down the quickest.

Talk amongst yourselves!

Response (Umang Kapoor) 10/07/2012 02:25 PM Dear Mr. X,

I'd like to inform that Chip & Signature options will not be available until October 16, 2012. After that, American Express may launch this feature.

Therefore, you may call the number on the back of your Card after the above mentioned and one of the representatives will be glad to assist you with the possible available option.

In the meanwhile, you can continue using your current Card without any issues outside the USA, please explain the cashier that your Card is a swipe and sign Card; therefore, please ask them to swipe the Card in order to process the charge.

I am sure, once they follow this procedure, the charge would be approved without any issues.

I assure that our concerned department is planning to introduce this technology in our Cards, so that our Cardmembers don't face such situation while using them overseas.

I hope this is useful and reassuring. Have an excellent weekend!

Sincerely,

Umang Kapoor
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

Cdnewmanpac — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:39:27 GMT

Now if they would just drop the foreign transaction fees...

Seriously, this will just convert all Amex cards except plat/cent into cards you can use overseas, but shouldn't.

edit for typo

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

adavis425 — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:52:24 GMT

Yeah, with the chip n pin (or sig) AND no forex fees it would be a great travel card.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

L-TWT — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 02:46:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey Forum,

Just wanted to throw a heads up that I inquired about my AmEx Blue Cash preferred's upgradability to chip and PIN (or chippy sig) and low and behold, it's apparently coming really soon! One more week or so.October 16th!

On the topic of convenience however, I wonder if the card is actually tap and go compliant as well. That really is the most convenient way to pay, especially with low dollar transactions. In playing around with chip and PIN and paying with PayPal at work (enterprise retail software company), tap and go is hands down the quickest.

Talk amongst yourselves!

Response (Umang Kapoor) 10/07/2012 02:25 PM Dear Mr. X,

I'd like to inform that Chip & Signature options will not be available until October 16, 2012. After that, American Express may launch this feature.

Therefore, you may call the number on the back of your Card after the above mentioned and one of the representatives will be glad to assist you with the possible available option.

In the meanwhile, you can continue using your current Card without any issues outside the USA, please explain the cashier that your Card is a swipe and sign Card; therefore, please ask them to swipe the Card in order to process the charge.

I am sure, once they follow this procedure, the charge would be approved without any issues.

I assure that our concerned department is planning to introduce this technology in our Cards, so that our Cardmembers don't face such situation while using them overseas.

I hope this is useful and reassuring. Have an excellent weekend!
Sincerely,

Umang Kapoor
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

Thx 4 heads up, planning a trip overseas in Nov., any word if the EMV chip would be "dual interface"?....like the ones AMEX offers overseas & in Canada! B/c I 2 find the expresspay feature very convenient

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

steve23111 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:35:44 GMT

I decided to shoot AMEX a message to see if this might be an option for my Blue Cash Preferred card. Here is the response that I got. Note that my inquiry was regarding both Chip & PIN and Chip & Signature cards, and the response seemed to (rather confusingly) address both:

I am happy to inform you that we are in plan of launching Chip and Pin Cards in US very soon.

Our management team is already working towards this project. It will take some time to cover the entire US and all Card types.

We realized the difficulty of our Cardmembers who are frequent travelers regarding this matter.

Therefore, our management has already initiated the project of enabling you with a chip-enabled solution, your new Chip & Signature Card will help you avoid these disruptions when you travel internationally.

I hope you find this information useful.

Sincerely,

[redacted]
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:37:37 GMT

I just called the regular cs number yesterday and was told it's not available yet. I called back and spoke to anothe cs and he said they were available and sent my wife and I two cards next day air with the chip. I received the ups tracking # at 2AM so they should be coming...

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

CreditMuppet — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:45:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just called the regular cs number yesterday and was told it's not available yet. I called back and spoke to anothe cs and he said they were available and sent my wife and I two cards next day air with the chip. I received the ups tracking # at 2AM so they should be coming...

As I do a lot of business overseas, I gave them a call today to see if they have chip and signature on the Blue Cash Preferred and was told that it is not yet available for that card type. So its seems YMMV depending on the product.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

steve23111 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:02:23 GMT

I am thinking Ianc is about to receive cards with the ExpressPay chip inside.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

CreditMuppet — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:22:29 GMT

@steve23111 wrote:
I am thinking Ianc is about to receive cards with the ExpressPay chip inside.

Yeah actually when I mentioned I was looking for the Chip + Signature, she instingtively said oh "Express Pay Chip", I had to explain to her that no it wasn't expresspay, and she had to go off and research it.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

stone — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:53:42 GMT

is it possible to have both chip and expresspay feature in one card?

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:56:45 GMT

@stone wrote:
is it possible to have both chip and expresspay feature in one card?

Rep told me today that you have to choose one or the other.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

jsucool76 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:02:32 GMT

Its called EMV (europay mastercard visa so I don't think amex will be onboard anytime soon. XD

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

steve23111 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:02:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@stone wrote:
is it possible to have both chip and expresspay feature in one card?
Rep told me today that you have to choose one or the other.

Interesting. I wish I knew which reps the other folks here are talking to. Mostly because I'm off today and have absolutely nothing better to do, but also partially because I am truly curious, I have called AMEX a couple of times today and each time I have been told that any type of chip card (other than ExpressPay) is simply not an option. I have three cards-- Zync, Clear, and Blue Cash Preferred-- and while I haven't inquired about each card specifically, all three reps I have talked to over the phone and via secure messaging have stated it just is not an option. Period.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

steve23111 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:02:40 GMT

@jsucool76 wrote:
Its called EMV (europay visa mastercard) so I don't think amex will be onboard anytime soon. XD

They are in the rest of the world. Just not in the USA.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

stone — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:05:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@stone wrote:
is it possible to have both chip and expresspay feature in one card?
Rep told me today that you have to choose one or the other.

thanks, i think i will call them a few days later, that most rep kown how to process a emv chip card.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

CreditMuppet — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:22:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@stone wrote:
is it possible to have both chip and expresspay feature in one card?
Rep told me today that you have to choose one or the other.

It's certainly possible that in the future they will support both, for instance my Barclaycard Gold has both Chip+pin and contactless payments, initially though they will probably just focus on EMV.

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

flowfaster — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:00:59 GMT

Doesn't Amex charge a FTF? I just don't see the point of bringing an Amex out of the country. Can anyone enlighten me?

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:03:09 GMT

I just called and they said they would overnight me a green card with the chip and sig... but they were also like are you sure you need it, it's only useful if you are going to europe. since i don't have a trip planned there currently I declined

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

TheConductor — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:06:25 GMT

AmEx Platinum has no forex fee.

But I'd take a chipped AmEx with me as a backup card even if it did have the forex fee. I wouldn't intend it to be my primary spending card, but unless I actually had two different chipped, no-FTF cards (not likely to happen for me soon considering most of those are prime-time cards), I'd be perfectly happy to pay 3% extra in that rare situation where my primary card was being declined, not working, frozen by an overzealous fraud alert team, or whatever.

It is kind of funny, though, that AmEx's no-FTF options are the Prepaid, the Bluebird, and the Platinum. Targeting the fringes of the bell curve only, leaving everyone in the middle with the fee...genius!

Re: AmEx Chip and Signature - October 16th (It's not chip and PIN but it's a start!)

flowfaster — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:25:20 GMT

Yeah it just doesn't make sense to me. I have a cap1 and BoA with no FTF, I think Im going to pass. You would think at least the Blue Sky would be NO FTF but I guess not.