Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/07/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 12:03 PM -0700 7/23/09, Brian Reid wrote:
>> I had not realised that the US did not use the PIN system yet
>
>North American bank cards use PINs only for debit/ATM transactions.
>Credit transactions just use a signature. And our cards do not have
>chips in them.
>
>My experience is that the most universal form of access to money
>when I travel is an ATM/debit card with a 4-digit PIN. Being the
>sort of person who always has a backup Plan B, I carry two such
>cards, issued by different banks that use different debit networks.
>
>Though because of the epidemic of banks buying other banks, most
>cards issued by nationwide financial institutions are members of 3
>or more debit networks.
>
I've had a Visa card which is also my bank access card for over 20
years, so it has always had a PIN. I used it to access ATM's in
Europe at least as far back as 1986. I also have a bank access card
that accesses the same account. If I use the latter, I know I am
accessing the account; with the combined card I can't tell whether it
accesses the bank account or provides a money advance from Visa. The
latter naturally has a nasty interest rate attached. Sometimes the
bank card isn't accepted but the Visa card is.
Things are not always simple, but I can now count on getting money
out of an ATM pretty much anywhere, whether in central China, Ukraine
or Ecuador (or anywhere in Europe).
--
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
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