Credit card without chip and pin

As long as they warn you that they may not accept some types of VISA cards before you order, they would have covered themselves with respect to the customer. However they may have breached their merchant agreement, and if the banks are encouraging this behaviour, the banks are most probably in breach of their VISA franchise agreements. Incidentally having a VISA sticker in the window, on the cash desk etc is a requirement of merchant agreements.

If a merchant with a VISA sticker refuses to accept all valid VISA cards, you should always complain to your bank. Agreed one complaint will go nowhere, but a significant number of similar complaints will attract their attention.

By the way, does anyone know whether there is the same problem with Mastercard?

Indeed, a huge security hole that I have raised with the Tesco branch

If you go to ALDI where there is a visa sign displayed and try to pay with a visa electron card, you will be shown the door..

I had a similar problem but when they took on board that if they didn't take the card then they were not going to get paid at all (I had 5p in cash) they suddenly found a way of processing it manually.

At 10:32:56 on 08/04/2006, john2 delighted uk.finance by announcing:

OK, correction: The liability is carried by whoever is not able to perform a C&P transaction. In this case, it would be the issuer of the card.

In message , snipped-for-privacy@mac.com wrote

Aldi only take debit cards so would they have a Visa logo displayed?

Why not? I have a VISA Debit card...

Rubbish. If you use a self-service checkout to buy alcohol, a member of staff is required to approve the purchase - precisely so this problem is avoided.

Cashback is offered largely for the retailers' convenience in the first place - it allows them to recycle the cash they are paid for groceries rather than having to bank it, which saves them a great deal of money.

At 13:49:30 on 09/04/2006, John B delighted uk.finance by announcing:

I think he may mean loyalty vouchers rather than debit card transactions.

Then why are not the same members of the permanent staff required on that checkout not checking for stolen cards?

I'm writing about those paper vouchers sent through the post based on the amount a customer has spent in the last 3 months. Dealing with these bits of paper at the checkout takes many times longer than taking money from a credit/debit card.

Thanks for the link... it lead me to something very specific at:

True... but then I doubt that there will be more than one complaint to the Bank of America about a small restaurant in Birmingham.

I got the impression that it would have been a problem although I didn't check. Oddly enough when I mentioned AmEx I was told "that's a whole different ball game" and they would accept their cards without a pin although we ended up paying cash.

Axel

But there's nothing to stop someone using a stolen card to buy non-alcohol goods.....Isn't that just as illegal as allowing minors to buy booze?......

In message , Alan writes

When I use them to buy alcohol it says that the item needs to be authorised and a nearby assistant authorises it.

In message , Alan writes

How would they do that then? The terminal spots those that are known to be stolen.

In message , Swampy Bogtrotter writes

Yes there is, the card transaction would not be authorised by the merchant system. (Assuming its loss has been reported that is).

I work for a Credit card terminal Helpdesk for technical and card help.

Chip & Pin is mainly dependent on the CARD issuing bank. If a card is Chip & PIN enabled the credit card terminal will ask for a PIN... IF the merchants terminal is Chip & PIN enabled.

If the terminal AND the card are Chip & Pin enabled then the bank issuing the card is likely to decline the transaction IF a PIN is not entered. However, IF the PIN system on the terminal is damaged, most machines will revert to signature, but not all.

Clive

At 18:56:56 on 09/04/2006, john boyle delighted uk.finance by announcing:

And assuming the transaction went online or that the hotcard list had been updated since the report.

Because

a) there is no member of staff permanently allocated to the checkout. One is called by the terminal when an alcohol purchase is put through, and they can authorise it from a remote station where they can see all the self service checkouts ()at least in the ones I have used).

And b) if the card is recorded as stolen, the checkout will reject it anyhow.

Not when I have used them.