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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

I was just looking for a chip-and-pin card that I (as an American) could get for traveling to the UK and apparently there really isn't much out there. I think all of the US cards that support chip and pin prioritize signature over pin.

I also found this Visa page explaining that PIN isn't used in the US because it's too expensive:

https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/security/the-cost-of-pi...

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I recently traveled to the states from Canada and was amazed at the number of places that didn't even have the infrastructure for chip & pin - I was at a popular tourist spot and it was all iPads & Square Readers.

Weird. The Square readers we have in Australia support both chip-and-pin and contactless (+pin for purchases > $100). Were they only using the cheaper audio-jack swipe readers in the US? (Not allowed here any more)

I've been using Apple Pay recently, and one annoyance I had was that one store when I paid (for a >$2k purchase) didn't ask for my PIN... it asked for a signature. And then of course I was meant to present my card for verification. And I couldn't... what?

It was the audio jack swipe readers.

Apple Pay lets you spend that much money? I think with Google Pay + my bank the limit is $100 / transaction, after which you have to use your card + pin (which, let's be honest, makes sense.

Before I moved full time to the UK i was in the same position. The only bank I found that provided true chip and pin was Andrews FCU. https://www.andrewsfcu.org/personal/loans-and-credit/credit-...

I never got one though, I ended up getting married soon after and got a UK bank account.

FWIW, I set an ATM PIN for a US issued CC and found the PIN worked for retail terminals in NZ. YMMV

I hope that didn't count as a cash advance

It did not

Might check some of the credit unions you can join. I know at least FirstTech uses chip and pin for their credit cards.

I can confirm that. I specifically signed up for FirstTech for their Chip and Pin cards. Their Mastercard is quite good for traveling and has Chip and Pin.

It was great when I was traveling in Iceland where pretty much every transaction was made with my card. It's a regional credit union, but I only had to visit a branch in person one time to change the PIN on my card.

First Tech security is pretty top notch. For online trnsacations over a certain amount they would ask for password verification.

I just wished online transactions owned it up for optional two factor online transactions, pin card transactions and SMS verifications for all transactions above $500.

That would drop fraud significantly.

FirstTech's credit card is PIN priority. I've only used it in Canada so far, but it works as expected there.

Do you know if you have to join the credit union to get a card, or do they issue them to anybody?

Edit: I just contact them and you do indeed have to become a member first.

First Tech's membership bar is quite low, I was surprised how easy it was to get my SO an account. The Zelle integration on the mobile app is pretty slick too!

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