> most places seem to ask for a PIN rather than a signature
That is for debit, which is an entirely different thing than credit.
There are no US banks that implement Chip & PIN. Heck, it's nearly impossible to get a Chip & PIN capable card for travel if you have a US issuing bank.
Swipe support will in theory eventually be disabled (e.g. authorizations declined by your issuing bank) at some point in the future when Chip & Signature is being rolled out.
If you're typing your PIN code into a terminal in the US, you are using debit though.
> There are no US banks that implement Chip & PIN. Heck, it's nearly impossible to get a Chip & PIN capable card for travel if you have a US issuing bank.
Not entirely, but your last sentence is true. Some issuers do PIN credit cards. I have one from First Tech Federal Credit Union that uses PIN and touts it as a benefit. When I used it in Europe, it worked exactly as expected and prompted for my PIN just like in the States. There are a handful of smaller issuers that also do PIN primary (mostly credit unions but at least one Florida bank with a card catering to Cuban trade does) and a few more that have PINs but the PIN is secondary so it isn't asked for unless the terminal's configuration insists on it.
Here US, some stores when using a chip credit card (not debit/checking account btw) requires a pin instead of a signature, not sure if they call it a pin but it's 4 digits to verify purchases . . . instead of signature.
I have a MasterCard that takes a pin. I've been asked to enter the pin at several places, including WalMart. It is a credit card, not a debit card.
Frankly, I'm baffles by these claims that US cards don't work with chip and pin because so far, if I use the chip, I have been required to use the pin.
I also have a corporate amex with a pin set up, but I've never used it.
That is for debit, which is an entirely different thing than credit.
There are no US banks that implement Chip & PIN. Heck, it's nearly impossible to get a Chip & PIN capable card for travel if you have a US issuing bank.
Swipe support will in theory eventually be disabled (e.g. authorizations declined by your issuing bank) at some point in the future when Chip & Signature is being rolled out.
If you're typing your PIN code into a terminal in the US, you are using debit though.