Credit Card in America

Strangely my experience of credit cards travelling in the US is exactly the opposite of shesells. Most of the time I was not asked for ID.... Must look much more trustworthy ;)
 
I've found it varies largely state by state. Less likely to be asked in NY than Chicago or Boston. ID always requested in Vegas, for obvious reasons ;)
 
I've got Ulster Bank Visa - never had a problem anywhere in the States (or anywhere else abroad, for that matter). You may find that it's not all chip and pin - in some cases you may have to sign the receipt.
Some essential reading before you go... :D

http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit/
http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit_card/
 
I was over in the USA during the summer and I was shocked with their lack of credit card security.

As previously mentioned, there is no Chip and Pin in place which I find bizarre when I have been in what you might call 3rd world countries which have it in place but a country as advanced technologically as USA doesn't have it.

Even worse, they don't always ask you to sign a credit card slip either; in many of these cases they looked for an ID but in at least two occasions, I wasn't.

Petrol pumps are another example; you can swipe your credit card at the pump and pay without going into the shop; no PIN number required; granted, some asked for the Zip code to be entered but others didn't.

Just be very careful with your credit cards and if you lose them, make sure they are cancelled immediately
 
Just a note about dining out in the US if you are paying by credit or debit card. Your waiter will take your card away from the table to where ever they swipe cards for credit card transactions. It is usually done on the same computer where they ring your order in, and that is normally nailed to the wall somewhere at the back of the restaurant. US restaurants do not use the portable credit card chip and pin machines that a waiter will bring to your table if you are eating out in Ireland.

The down side is that your card is taken away from you, and the waiter may be doing God knows what with it when it is out of your sight. The upside is that you don't have a waiter standing looking over your shoulder watching you input your pin number during the transaction. US restaurants just swipe the card and then bring you a docket to sign. You won't be asked to input a pin number. At least I never have been, and I lived in the US up until this past Spring.
 
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