Chip and Pin Credit Cards

EMV card logo (designs may vary for
different cards but it's usually painted
gold with 3-5 horizontal lines on each
side of the center design)

     Chip-and-Pin cards are also known as EMV cards (EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa, the 3 groups involved in the initial development of the Chip-and-Pin technology). These cards can be debit, credit or ATM cards embedded with computer chips, unlike standard credit cards or "swipe cards" that have magnetic stripes or magstripes (though some cards have both). With the Chip-and-Pin credit card, the cardholder punches a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to complete a purchase instead of signing a receipt.
     On our trip to Europe in 2007, we rented a car to drive around the Costa Brava from Barcelona, then to Carcassonne, France, and back to Barcelona through Andorra. We tried to use our credit cards in some gas stations along the way and wondered why they weren't being accepted. The first time, we were almost out of gas and we didn't have enough cash! Luckily, my brother who lives in Spain was with us and he offered to pay for the gas with his Chip-and-Pin credit card.
     Learning from our previous experience in Europe, we tried our hardest to get hold of a Chip-and-Pin card before leaving for our second European vacation. We did a lot of research online and found a few that we considered getting.
     A month or so before our trip, my husband Ken (who is a USAA member because he used to be an officer in the U.S. army) decided to inform USAA online about our planned trip to Europe to make sure that our USAA Mastercard would work there. While filling up an online form, he was asked if he was planning a trip out of the country. When he answered "Yes", the next question, to his utter surprise, was if he wanted his card to be converted to a Chip-and-Pin card! We had no idea that USAA was already offering a Chip-and-Pin card! And the fact that we were not really keen on applying for a new credit card, that piece of news certainly made us glad! The card, however, is offered only to eligible USAA members (those who are planning to work or travel overseas).
     In Versailles, while lining up at a ticket machine to buy RER train tickets for our return trip to Paris, we felt so lucky to have a Chip-and-Pin U.S. credit card which very few American tourists there had. The very long line to purchase tickets with cash was disheartening. Some Americans, perhaps unaware of Chip-and-Pin cards, even held up the lines for the ticket machines while trying over and over again to buy tickets there with their standard American credit cards. Our USAA Chip-and-Pin Mastercard worked everywhere except on the French autoroute toll booths. We're not sure why. Ken's assumption is that they probably don't want to pay the fees associated with accepting American credit cards.
     For non-USAA members who may want to get Chip and Pin cards, this link will lead you to a list of both Chip-and-Pin and Chip-and-Signature U.S. credit cards:
     https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ani-u3tGk5hedGRvcE1ELVg5UmlGZk01SHZvTUMxdUE#gid=0