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Chip and Pin has become the norm in Europe when making any card transactions, but I see it is not that popular in America.
Is there any reason that American's don't use it and do you still sign for transactions?
Any other countries outside Europe use it?
We're moving towards some weird hybrid. Small transaction rarely require signatures or pins any more. But we are resistant to pin only for credit card transactions. ATM cards on the other hand are and have been pin driven.
I have a question for the OP: Are you talking about chipped cards that require a PIN as well to be used? Or are those two separate means of verifying the transaction?
My understanding is that PINs on credit cards are used only for a fraction of transactions - and those are mostly cash advances.
Where cards have started integrating chips into their designs they're seen as a premium service, and one that justifies a higher annual fee from the card issuer. Which serves to keep many people from being interested in such devices.
My credit card is chip and PIN (that is it has a chip onboard and can usually only be accessed using my four digit pin). However, in the US my credit card works without recourse to entering my PIN, and rarely am I asked for my signature, usually only when a tip is also expected. I find this mind-boggling that security is so lax on credit cards, especially since in other ways Americans are more security conscious than Irish people.