The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not be current. This website may contain links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; we do not recommend or endorse the contents of any third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney, accountant or credit counselor to obtain advice with respect to their particular situation. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or not act on the basis of information on this site. Always seek personal legal, financial or credit advice for your relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney or advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective employers.
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them. Compensation is not a factor in the substantive evaluation of any product.
I probably use my chip credit card about once a week — that is, I dip it in a card reader rather than swiping it — and I’ve noticed the same thing a lot of people have: It’s slow. That’s not a huge deal to me. More than anything, I wish the change would happen more quickly so we could all get used to it and stop hesitating at the register, wondering “Is this one of those chip readers? Or should I just swipe?”
That confusion alone can slow down the checkout process: People (myself included) think they’re supposed to dip their card, only to have several seconds pass before the cashier says something like, “Oh, we don’t have that yet,” or “What are you doing?” (I’ve gotten both reactions.) Instead of coming across as an in-the-know consumer (Look! I’m embracing new technology!), I end up feeling awkward and a little frustrated for having wasted time.
Perhaps a bunch of awkward time-wasters like myself got to be too much for my local grocery store. A few days ago, when I went through the checkout line at Jewel-Osco (a chain in Chicago), I saw signs taped to the chip-dipping slot on the payment terminal: “PLEASE SWIPE YOUR CARD → CHIP & PIN transactions coming in 2016.”
I feel your pain, Jewel-Osco. I get a little annoyed with all this chip business, too.
No one would explain the signs to me. (A store manager referred me to the Jewel-Osco corporate office, and a spokeswoman didn’t respond to requests for comment.) I can’t be sure why they went through the trouble of taping notes on every payment terminal, but it seems like a logical way to solve confusion over chip cards and avoid unnecessary line slowdowns. Of course, they can’t outrun the chipocalypse forever. Eventually, Americans will get used to chip cards and going through the grocery store checkout line will be just as mundane as it used to be.
Remember, chip cards are designed to minimize fraud on in-store transactions; they don’t apply to online purchases, so you’ll still want to monitor your credit card or debit card statements closely for suspicious activity. You should also monitor your credit if you have reason to believe deeper identity theft is occurring. You can do so by pulling your credit reports for free each year on AnnualCreditReport.com and viewing your credit scores for free each month on Credit.com.
Image: Christine DiGangi
September 13, 2021
Uncategorized
August 4, 2021
Uncategorized
January 28, 2021
Uncategorized