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

[Anonymous]

I tried to reply to the following thread but it's closed: 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Anyone-having-to-replace-their-chip-cards-often-becaus...

I'm surprised nobody else in that thread reported this problem: My last three chip cards have lasted an average of about eight months each, and I keep the card in my wallet (yes, I have been sitting on it...). For the past year or so I keep a metal plate in a different slot in the wallet to prevent the card from bending when I sit on it. It did not help:

April 2018: Received new card because previous one cracked at the edge of where the chip is.

Jan  2019: Received new card because previous one cracked at the edge of where the chip is.

Sept 2019: Requested new card because the chip simply does not work. Grocery stores and CVS will not accept the card in any form, they won't swipe it, and and they won't take down the numbers. I was forced to pay cash at both places.

I cannot live like this! This is causing me to be without a card for two weeks every eight months. The only solution I can think of is having a spare card, or pre-emptively requesting a new one before it breaks. I take great care of things - my car is 14 years old, my bike is 23 years old, and my guitar is 38 years old. Something is wrong here...

[Gollum]

I use my American Express Blue Cash Everyday card (it has a chip) fairly regularly at a QFC grocery store (it doesn't have Tap 'n' Pay capability) and the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal is picky about accepting the chip in my card. Sometimes I can get it to work by changing the angle of instertion. When the failure rate got high enough to be irritating, I asked American Express for a new card. IMHO, QFC needs to upgrade their POS terminals.

[NRB525]

OP, is this just one credit card? Consistently failing regarding the chip? 

Which bank and card?  

How old is your cellphone?  

[Anonymous]

I have never broken a card but I can't stand having anything in my back pockets either so my ridiculously thick wallet goes in the front of my jeans. 

Your cards might actually last longer if you removed that piece of metal and allow them to flex a bit. 

[Wrigley2172]

Saeren is that your wallet in your front pocket or are you just happy to see everyone😉

Thats odd though ive never had issues with chips not working, and i keep my wallet in my back pocket and sit on it all day long, my contactless with my BCP has been spotty though sometimes it works sometimes it does not

[GApeachy]

Edit: My comment is referring to the last chip just not working at all.

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Now I'm wondering if dh's card (kinda the same problem you're describing OP) is failing due to him having it in his money clip (magnet).  He doesn't sit on his but this one card does it all the time.  It's been replaced twice.  Disco.  Although this last time I called them right when it happened and they said they could tell it was the terminal he tried to use.  Maybe you should give the ccc a call right when it happens and trouble shoot from there. idk, it's annoying nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all who responded - I really appreciate it.

Yes this is just one credit card, consistently failing regarding the chip. It's a credit union Visa card. All non-chip-based transactions succeed.

Why might the card "last longer if you removed that piece of metal and allow them to flex a bit"? This seems to contract my experience with electrical and mechanical connections: flexing such connections weakens them, eventually causing them to break.

The piece of metal is a Wallet Ninja I happened to have had lying around. I do think it would have solved the problem of the first two cards developing a crack at the boundary of the chip. Maybe this chip problem is just bad luck this one time, maybe one of the six fine gold wires that connect the chip to the six surface contacts has broken, just a manufacturing defect(?). I've taken several of the chips off of old cards so I've seen how they're build and connected on the inside. The whole assembly is inside a big drop of resin:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Filemart-Card-Chip_back.jpg

This is frustrating because I can usually repair electronics or figure out what's broken. I've put the multi-meter on this one to check the conductivity of the six surfaces, tried to clean the contacts, and as a last ditch resort, tried light sandpaper - nothing made a difference.

At the Giant grocery store, the check-out woman at the self-serve checkout machines told me, "after the chip fails three times, it will let you swipe." This was false. A manager then came over and said that works only for the "chip malfunction" message, but I got "card not accepted", instead, something like that. So I ended up paying cash. (Yet "All cards can be swiped, as long as they have a magnetic stripe." - https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/emv-chip-card-common-errors.php#1). A few days later at Whole Foods, after three fails, I *was* able to swipe. (Wha??). Maybe I should be recording the error messages I get at the various terminals.

Is it the case that different POS terminals run different protocols? Is there a public specification or flow chart or standardized explanation of what the error messages are? Found the pinout here: https://www.electroschematics.com/5074/smartcards-how-it-works/

How else to explain the Giant vs. Whole Foods experiences? For some reason, I'm reluctant to believe these were just differences in electro-mechanical contact between the six contacts on my card and the terminal.

"1.5 percent of all credit cards issued may be flawed or damaged."

- https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/emv-chip-card-common-errors.php#1

p.s. i don't own a cell phone - don't want or need one

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

p.s. i don't own a cell phone - don't want or need one

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I understand not wanting one but I'm wondering if your CU has an app that would let you use to check out with instead of the physical card....that could be a good reason to get a cell phone.  Other than breaking down on the side of the road.  Orrrrr calling the ccc to show (pic.) and ask on the spot what the heck is going on when it happens again.

P.S.  What kind of guitar do you have?

[Anonymous]

Ok, LauraC - thank you - you just made a good point: I might be able to use a credit union app as a stop-gap replacement for a broken-chip card. Truth be told, I *did* replace my landline with an old iPhone and cheap Tello $14.99/month no-contract plan early this year, but I always leave it at home, except for very unique circumstances

But my real bete noir is the Giant grocery - Don't I first have to find out if they would even accept the app as payment? And what about when I travel overseas - I doubt those places (perhaps developing countries) would accept an app instead of a card...)

p.s. guitar is an Electra - a cheap Les Paul copy...very nice....it's very similar to the following, but the knobs are in a diamond pattern and only one three-position toggle switch, near the knobs.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electra-X-250-Workingman-Electric-Guitar-80s-With-Case/254259747888?hash=it...

[GApeachy]

I'm not savvy to answer those terminal app questions but....

even though it's not "the best way" to tune a guitar, those mobile app tuners are pretty slick. ....but don't blast me, I know.....not the best.

Edit: pretty cool you've had it that long.  My son has an electric and an acoustic I really, really hope he hangs on to.