Citibank chip-and-pin cards

Does anyone know why Citi does not make chip-and-pin cards available
to US-based customers? Their advertising in Asia and Europe (and
probably the rest of the world) show that chip-and-pin is offered
there, so they clearly have the physical ability to create them. When
I asked in the US, some Citi employees did not even know that these
existed, and none offered any hope.

Are there any suggestions for US-based banks that have chip-and-pin
cards? I heard rumors about the UN Credit Union, but I probably do
not qualify.

On Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:10:36 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Does anyone know why Citi does not make chip-and-pin cards available
to US-based customers? Their advertising in Asia and Europe (and
probably the rest of the world) show that chip-and-pin is offered
there, so they clearly have the physical ability to create them. When
I asked in the US, some Citi employees did not even know that these
existed, and none offered any hope.

Are there any suggestions for US-based banks that have chip-and-pin
cards? I heard rumors about the UN Credit Union, but I probably do
not qualify.

Most credit unions will accept anyone in good standing
with some money to deposit.

Does anyone know why Citi does not make chip-and-pin cards available
to US-based customers?

Rumors have it that people in the US still use cheques, like, on real
paper and such

Seriously, I guess from a US bank's point of view there's no use for
chip-and-pin cards (read: the costs involved) if there's no place its
customers can use them (in the US). Chicken or the egg?

PS: Try https://www.citibank.com/domain/cont...email/form.htm

On Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:10:36 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

Does anyone know why Citi does not make chip-and-pin cards available
to US-based customers? Their advertising in Asia and Europe (and
probably the rest of the world) show that chip-and-pin is offered
there, so they clearly have the physical ability to create them. When
I asked in the US, some Citi employees did not even know that these
existed, and none offered any hope.

Probably because it's no use individual credit card issuers acting
alone. It needs the whole industry in each country to agree to issue
chip-and-pin cards and for merchants and card acquirers all to be set
up to accept them.

This is what happened in the UK several years ago. Everybody's cards
were switched to chip-and-pin over a period of a couple of years.
During that time merchants were issued with machines capable of
handling them and staff were trained how to use them. Credit card
holders also need to be told what changes are happening and given
information to make sure they are issued with PINs and know how to use
their cards with the new system.

It requires a coordinated effort on the part of the entire industry to
make all that work smoothly.

Chris

On 8/17/2011 5:06 AM, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:42:52 +0200, Johannes Kleese
wrote:

Does anyone know why Citi does not make chip-and-pin cards available
to US-based customers?

Rumors have it that people in the US still use cheques, like, on real
paper and such

It's a fact that they do in UK too; and that by popular demand the
abolishment of cheques has been postponed until 2019 at the earliest.

This reminds me that the topic of abolishing the dollar bill in the US
has arisen again with the repeated suggestion that the Treasury should
do as in Canada and abolish the bills. What is not recognized is that
very large number of Americans do not like coins at all and don't carry
them except for use in older parking meters. Quite often, any change
gathered during the day is deposited in a jar and periodically taken to
the bank for counting and deposit. I usually find that I deposit 30 or
40 dollars a month.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

On Wed, 17 Aug 2011, Johannes Kleese wrote:

Rumors have it that people in the US still use cheques, like, on real
paper and such

Well, I do use cheques (2-3 per year) for some payments, here in Italy.

Like e.g. a 4000 euro hotel bill (1 month full board for two persons).
How else could I pay on-the-spot ? Considered that credit card payments
are limited to 2600 euro per month; Bancomat card payments to even lower
limits; I would not like to carry such an amount of cash with me, and I
could withdraw from an ATM only 500 euro at a time (and I guess there is
a monthly limit too), and the ATMs available in the resort are not my
own bank's, so I should pay a fee of 2.7 eur per withdrawal. I could
make an online bank transfer, but ideally from home/office not on the
spot (I'd have to go to a public Internet point or use the hotel
computer typing in all my home bank credentials, and I do not like the
idea of doing that on a computer which is not mine, and where I could
not erase all browser cache/history when I want).

--
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On 8/17/2011 8:39 AM, Giovanni Drogo wrote:
On Wed, 17 Aug 2011, Johannes Kleese wrote:

Rumors have it that people in the US still use cheques, like, on real
paper and such

Well, I do use cheques (2-3 per year) for some payments, here in Italy.

Like e.g. a 4000 euro hotel bill (1 month full board for two persons).
How else could I pay on-the-spot ? Considered that credit card payments
are limited to 2600 euro per month; Bancomat card payments to even lower
limits; I would not like to carry such an amount of cash with me, and I
could withdraw from an ATM only 500 euro at a time (and I guess there is
a monthly limit too), and the ATMs available in the resort are not my
own bank's, so I should pay a fee of 2.7 eur per withdrawal. I could
make an online bank transfer, but ideally from home/office not on the
spot (I'd have to go to a public Internet point or use the hotel
computer typing in all my home bank credentials, and I do not like the
idea of doing that on a computer which is not mine, and where I could
not erase all browser cache/history when I want).

It would be best to have established in advance that such a large single
payment would be accepted but EUR 4000 should be well within a normal
credit limit, wouldn't it?

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

In article ,
James Silverton wrote:

This reminds me that the topic of abolishing the dollar bill in the US
has arisen again with the repeated suggestion that the Treasury should
do as in Canada and abolish the bills. What is not recognized is that
very large number of Americans do not like coins at all and don't carry
them except for use in older parking meters. Quite often, any change
gathered during the day is deposited in a jar and periodically taken to
the bank for counting and deposit. I usually find that I deposit 30 or
40 dollars a month.

What's your source for the "very large number of Americans" who don't
like coins?

--
Neal Plotkin

On 8/17/2011 9:30 AM, Neal Plotkin wrote:
In ,
James wrote:

This reminds me that the topic of abolishing the dollar bill in the US
has arisen again with the repeated suggestion that the Treasury should
do as in Canada and abolish the bills. What is not recognized is that
very large number of Americans do not like coins at all and don't carry
them except for use in older parking meters. Quite often, any change
gathered during the day is deposited in a jar and periodically taken to
the bank for counting and deposit. I usually find that I deposit 30 or
40 dollars a month.

What's your source for the "very large number of Americans" who don't
like coins?

Personal observation but family and friends especially.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

On Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:55:39 -0400, James Silverton
wrote:

On 8/17/2011 8:39 AM, Giovanni Drogo wrote:
On Wed, 17 Aug 2011, Johannes Kleese wrote:

Well, I do use cheques (2-3 per year) for some payments, here in Italy.

Like e.g. a 4000 euro hotel bill (1 month full board for two persons).
How else could I pay on-the-spot ? Considered that credit card payments
are limited to 2600 euro per month; Bancomat card payments to even lower

It's been 10 years or more since I last used a cheque. Credit card
payment is not limited to 2600 Euro/month. There's a limit set when
you apply for a card (depending on income) but you can always
negotiate a higher limit with the bank issueing the card. We have the
option of increasing/decreasing the limit via our internetbanking
system for a certain period of time also like holidays. You can even
set it to increase the limit every year at the same time without human
intervention.

make an online bank transfer, but ideally from home/office not on the
spot (I'd have to go to a public Internet point or use the hotel
computer typing in all my home bank credentials, and I do not like the
idea of doing that on a computer which is not mine, and where I could
not erase all browser cache/history when I want).

If you carry your own (well protected) laptop you could use
internetbanking as a last resort depending on how secure the
connection is. Wired internet in a large hotel or wireless (secured)
in the middle of nowhere should be no problem to use the encrypted
connection to your bank.

It would be best to have established in advance that such a large single
payment would be accepted but EUR 4000 should be well within a normal
credit limit, wouldn't it?

Should be.


Bye Maurice
--
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