chip and pin card abroad

VanHeusen

Would a 'chip and pin' maestro card from an Irish bank work in chip readers abroad, e.g. France and UK? Or is the chip feature working only for domestic transactions?
I couldn't use my American credit cards at some gas stations in France because they would take only chip cards.

BuffyBot

It can vary, Maestro acceptable outside Ireland according to some stories we've heard on here can be shaky at best.

Sangre

I know some UK and NI retailers are having trouble accepting chip and pin maestro cards. However they should be able to read the info off the mag strip as normal.

VanHeusen

--> BuffyBot
Thanks! Would you happen to know if a chip card from UK could be used in Ireland? (I am trying to figure out if the 'chip and pin' feature is different in each country in Europe.)

Gauge

Anytime I've been in the UK they're refused my card- however this has been mostly airport shops and such. In September I went to Austria and could use my Maestro wherever I liked.

VanHeusen

-->Sangre
Right, they should. But the problem I had in France was that they didn't have readers for the magnetic strips in some places. Chip cards ONLY.

BuffyBot

UK Maestro cards may have much the same problem as Irish (Maestro, as a brand, is quite less intengrated than it should be..it's more like a "sticker" spread onto various national debit card schemes and has inherited some of their limitations). IF you can get a Visa Debit card (issued by various UK banks and Halifax in Ireland) then you've have a less hassle as they run on the same network as Visa credit cards and should be accepted without issue.

parsi

AIB Maestro as a debit card generally works in France (most places - some issues with Leclerc stores..) and works in Germany (Berlin incl vending machines). I've had issues using it in the UK.

No problems with using it as an ordinary ATM card.

VanHeusen

Thanks everyone for your responses. I got a card from permanent tsb and was able to use the chip thingy in France with no problems - even at the post office that wouldn't take my MasterCard or Visa.

AckwelFoley

ive travelled thru 8 euro zone countries in sept and dont think i used the pin once!

VanHeusen

Yup, I travel a lot and France was the first country where they wouldn't take a "chipless" card. I’ve learned it the hard way.

AckwelFoley

It was invented in france i believe.

VanHeusen

I think so too. They've definitely had it around for a while -- to the extend you can't buy gas at a self-service gas station using a regular card with just a magnetic stripe. Or buy stamps at the post office. Or a ticket for the underground in Paris...