Defective CHIP issues

[Gollum]

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@Aim_High wrote:

My brand-new Chase IHG Premier Rewards Visa (approved March) had problems with the chip, and I'm not sure if I ever got it to be accepted.  I noticed the pattern as I used it and it was declined over many transactions at many terminals.  I usually used it contactless.  Sometimes, I tried to swipe it when the chip was declined but the machines often instructed me to insert the card.   Grrr.  I finally got around to calling Chase to send me a replacement. 

I was just wondering how often our members have had some problems with chip acceptance?   I haven't heard too much discussion of this before on the forums and haven't experienced frequent issues with my many cards over the years. 

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By "chip acceptance," I assume you mean "stick the card into the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal" so the POS terminal uses the chip. At the one convenience / gas station store where I use the chip in my card, if the POS terminal refuses the chip, I stick the card back in then press it in while exerting a little upward pressure, which does the trick. Maybe upward/downward depends on which way the card becomes slightly bent in one's wallet... dunno.

I've been using NFC (Near Field Communication, also known as Tap2Pay) via my smartphone since 2013 or so, and if the POS terminal does NFC/Tap2Pay (sometimes the POS terminal has the symbol, but the POS terminal has not been set up for NFC/Tap2Pay), it has never failed. Sometimes the POS terminal is misconfigured by whoever services the POS terminal for the merchant, so that I am asked to sign the receipt. This negates the main point/advantage of Tap2Pay, which is to not have to sign the receipt.

I politely explain this to whoever is manning (no offense intended ) the POS terminal, and often, that person decides that I don't have to sign the receipt. I try to make sure that I check my credit card activity/statement for that transaction ("Trust, but verify." -- Ronald Reagan).

I added my bank debit card (briefly) to my smartphone (for use via NFC), then I changed my mind.

My bank's debit card is NFC-capable, but it is finicky compared to my smartphone: my smartphone seems to have more range (two or three inches compared to my card almost touching.)

[Lou-natic]

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@Gollum wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:

My brand-new Chase IHG Premier Rewards Visa (approved March) had problems with the chip, and I'm not sure if I ever got it to be accepted.  I noticed the pattern as I used it and it was declined over many transactions at many terminals.  I usually used it contactless.  Sometimes, I tried to swipe it when the chip was declined but the machines often instructed me to insert the card.   Grrr.  I finally got around to calling Chase to send me a replacement. 

I was just wondering how often our members have had some problems with chip acceptance?   I haven't heard too much discussion of this before on the forums and haven't experienced frequent issues with my many cards over the years. 

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By "chip acceptance," I assume you mean "stick the card into the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal" so the POS terminal uses the chip. At the one convenience / gas station store where I use the chip in my card, if the POS terminal refuses the chip, I stick the card back in then press it in while exerting a little upward pressure, which does the trick. Maybe upward/downward depends on which way the card becomes slightly bent in one's wallet... dunno.

I've been using NFC (Near Field Communication, also known as Tap2Pay) via my smartphone since 2013 or so, and if the POS terminal does NFC/Tap2Pay (sometimes the POS terminal has the symbol, but the POS terminal has not been set up for NFC/Tap2Pay), it has never failed. Sometimes the POS terminal is misconfigured by whoever services the POS terminal for the merchant, so that I am asked to sign the receipt. This negates the main point/advantage of Tap2Pay, which is to not have to sign the receipt.

I politely explain this to whoever is manning (no offense intended ) the POS terminal, and often, that person decides that I don't have to sign the receipt. I try to make sure that I check my credit card activity/statement for that transaction ("Trust, but verify." -- Ronald Reagan).

I added my bank debit card (briefly) to my smartphone (for use via NFC), then I changed my mind.

My bank's debit card is NFC-capable, but it is finicky compared to my smartphone: my smartphone seems to have more range (two or three inches compared to my card almost touching.)

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The chip is used for both of those features...the chip has an antenna attached to it for NFC. If your chip is defective it will not work properly eaither way I'd think. If it is working using the "dip" method but not "tap to pay" then it's probably an antenna issue. Either it didn't get connected or the connection has broken somehow.

This also explains why my laser etched stainless steel X1 card isn't NFC /tap to pay compatible, the stainless steel probably interferes too much with the antenna for it to work properly/consistently so they omitted it entirely. But I do have other "metal" cards that are compatible and work with tap to pay which makes me wonder what the difference there is?

[Anonymous]

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@Kforce wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

have a look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHF9kNwRyh4

I might have to try that, looks like a fun worthless project.

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A nice activity for "authorized users" who abuse their authorization

[UncleB]

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@Anonymalous wrote:

No, the cards seem pretty reliable. All the problems I've run into are with the readers, though the newer readers seem to be more reliable than the old ones. Suprisingly, the failures seem to all be in the "poke" readers, not the tap to pay. I've never had tap to pay fail with a credit card, though the amount of time needed to read it does seem to vary (not excessively). I have had tap to pay fail with debit cards, however. If one of the managers at Navy is to be believed, that's a widespread problem, and one caused by the difficulties in adapting the underlying debit card technology.

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I have an interesting data point on this... my Chase Freedom Flex always declines if I tap the card on the reader at the Great Clips where I used to live, but if I would immediately insert the chip it would approve.

The first time this happened I just paid another way and went home and called Chase.  The rep said she could see the transaction and that it wasn't technically declined, but the approval wasn't sent due to some expected info being missing from the data sent by the card reader.  The next time I went for a haircut I tried again, and this was when I figured out that inserting the card worked (tapping the card was declined again).

This is the only place I've had that issue, and the only card as well.  I've "tapped" that same card at countless other places with no drama, and I've also tapped other cards (as well as my phone) to pay at Great Clips also with no issues, so there's just something about the combination of that particular card and one reader that just doesn't work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anonymalous]

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@UncleB wrote:

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@Anonymalous wrote:

No, the cards seem pretty reliable. All the problems I've run into are with the readers, though the newer readers seem to be more reliable than the old ones. Suprisingly, the failures seem to all be in the "poke" readers, not the tap to pay. I've never had tap to pay fail with a credit card, though the amount of time needed to read it does seem to vary (not excessively). I have had tap to pay fail with debit cards, however. If one of the managers at Navy is to be believed, that's a widespread problem, and one caused by the difficulties in adapting the underlying debit card technology.

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I have an interesting data point on this... my Chase Freedom Flex always declines if I tap the card on the reader at the Great Clips where I used to live, but if I would immediately insert the chip it would approve.

The first time this happened I just paid another way and went home and called Chase.  The rep said she could see the transaction and that it wasn't technically declined, but the approval wasn't sent due to some expected info being missing from the data sent by the card reader.  The next time I went for a haircut I tried again, and this was when I figured out that inserting the card worked (tapping the card was declined again).

This is the only place I've had that issue, and the only card as well.  I've "tapped" that same card at countless other places with no drama, and I've also tapped other cards (as well as my phone) to pay at Great Clips also with no issues, so there's just something about the combination of that particular card and one reader that just doesn't work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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The explanation I got for why the the tap to pay function was spotty on debit cards is there are more steps involved in approving a debit rather than a credit card, but even for credit cards it still has to run through more systems than you'd expect. With all the opportunities for faulty header information, packet loss, time outs, heterogenous technologies, and so on, it's surprising it works as well as it does.

[Gollum]

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@Lou-natic wrote:

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This also explains why my laser etched stainless steel X1 card isn't NFC /tap to pay compatible, the stainless steel probably interferes too much with the antenna for it to work properly/consistently so they omitted it entirely. But I do have other "metal" cards that are compatible and work with tap to pay which makes me wonder what the difference there is?

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You could ask the bank that issued the credit card.

[wasCB14]

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@Gollum wrote:

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@Lou-natic wrote:

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This also explains why my laser etched stainless steel X1 card isn't NFC /tap to pay compatible, the stainless steel probably interferes too much with the antenna for it to work properly/consistently so they omitted it entirely. But I do have other "metal" cards that are compatible and work with tap to pay which makes me wonder what the difference there is?

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You could ask the bank that issued the credit card.

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FWIW...as of a few years ago...

(Metal, contactless) Amex Platinum was thinner and lighter than the (metal, non-contactless) version.

[Lou-natic]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Gollum wrote:

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@Lou-natic wrote:

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This also explains why my laser etched stainless steel X1 card isn't NFC /tap to pay compatible, the stainless steel probably interferes too much with the antenna for it to work properly/consistently so they omitted it entirely. But I do have other "metal" cards that are compatible and work with tap to pay which makes me wonder what the difference there is?

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You could ask the bank that issued the credit card.

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FWIW...as of a few years ago...

(Metal, contactless) Amex Platinum was thinner and lighter than the (metal, non-contactless) version.

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Now that you say that, my X1 card is by far my thickest card, I mean it's as solid as they come...might be the reason. My other "metal" contactless cards are still some kind of "sandwich" design where there looks to be a metal core but it is still sheathed in some kind of plastic like material where the X1 card is definitely not.

[Anonymalous]

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@Lou-natic wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Gollum wrote:

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@Lou-natic wrote:

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This also explains why my laser etched stainless steel X1 card isn't NFC /tap to pay compatible, the stainless steel probably interferes too much with the antenna for it to work properly/consistently so they omitted it entirely. But I do have other "metal" cards that are compatible and work with tap to pay which makes me wonder what the difference there is?

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You could ask the bank that issued the credit card.

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FWIW...as of a few years ago...

(Metal, contactless) Amex Platinum was thinner and lighter than the (metal, non-contactless) version.

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Now that you say that, my X1 card is by far my thickest card, I mean it's as solid as they come...might be the reason. My other "metal" contactless cards are still some kind of "sandwich" design where there looks to be a metal core but it is still sheathed in some kind of plastic like material where the X1 card is definitely not.

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Since all you really need is the chip, I'm surprised we haven't seen even more exotic limited edition credit "cards". Imagine a credit chip implanted in a ring, or a wizard's wand, or even a brick. Just swipe it and go!

The closest I've seen are the subdermal ID chips that were all the rage among the bleeding edge (pun intended) adopters a few years back.

[Zoostation1]

None of my credit cards are all that old (18mo is my oldest on hand) and no issues with any of the chips on them.  Debit cards, however have been a major problem for me in the past. Since my bank first made the switch (and even after being purchased by another bank), I've yet to have a debit card make it anywhere close to expiration without chip failure. Typically I start having issues on certain terminals within a few months if not sooner and by about 2 yrs they fail to read anywhere.