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Using the chip card +PIN is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare. I just got called to the cash counter in a big restaurant and had to trudge all the way back there to key in the PIN. But I guess the added security makes it worthwhile.

Elsewhere in the world, waiters, delivery staff, bus/train conductors etc. use wireless-enabled terminals (eg: regular Wifi, GPRS). Hopefully, as our merchants discover the significant problems their clientele are facing, they will move to such systems soon.

Edit: Citibank had mandated PIN for their credit cards a while (several months) back. A waiter in a small restaurant in Mumbai came to me and asked me for my PIN so that I wouldn't have to take the trouble of walking to the billing counter.

I had a similar experience, when i had to walk down from the car at a petrol pump to enter the pin.
Most of the POS terminals I encounter with at shopping malls, restaurants & petrol pumps still have the old wired POS Machines. But i guess over a period of time the banks would replace these machines, just like they'll replace all cards with a chip plus pin card.

Haha. Same thing happened to me. I told him, will enter it myself thanks.
And yes, matter of time before remote handheld card scanners become standard. These are just teething pains.

I have been feeding in the PIN at IOC Panchsheel for better part of the year and no sign of the portable machine as yet. It is not too much of a bother for me though as I always get out of the car when filling up.

HSBC is the only bank that has these machines in place at various establishments.

For me its quite an irritant, because i usually just sit in the car while keeping an eye on the operator and the machine. For the credit card transaction i have my SMS alert which ensures me the amount deducted.
Now after this new Chip & Pin card i have to specially get down & walk to the POS Machine & enter the pin. This is quite irritating at times, specially when you are in a hurry.

I have a question with this chip based cards. I have a citibank one which I have not used till now on a POS (only online transactions) as I use my HDFC & ICICI cards most of the time.

So, what if you dont remember your PIN at that moment? They always can use mag stripe like before for completing the transaction right? The security aspect comes into full force only if the hotel guy brings the POS to your table for completing your card transaction. The moment card goes away from your view, anything can happen.

Petrol bunks here in Bangalore (that I visit) have wireless POS terminal with them. They are usually lying next to the pump itself as they cannot afford to waste too much time with cards. Only in extreme cases, it wont work due to battery/charge issues and they take the card over to the central desk.

Apologies to go off topic, but it's my sincere advice to you to take the pain to get out of your car while the fuel filling is getting done.

Else you never know if the fuel is going into the car tank or into an empty kerosine can or a Bisleri bottle. :D

OT: Not necessarily if you position your car such that you are right in front of the meter and can see the nozzle in your rear view mirror. It is pretty easy, just try it once and you will know.

And I usually do not unlock the tank lid unless the attendant has reset the meter to "zero".

I usually park the car right in front of the filling machine. By that way i can easily keep an eye over the meter running on the machine as well as observe the fuel filling from my side view mirror.
More over i usually get my tank refilled from few trusted pumps only.

I still appreciate your suggestion. :)

I have seen fuel station attendants intentionally positioning themselves between the left ORVM and the fuel tank. This is more norm than exception at least in Bangalore.

Plus if you get out and go stand near the tank, the infamous "magazine" trick doesn't work.

I received a call sometime back from ICICI offering a cashback card. I was told that we can get 5% cashback on food and dept store purchases and also that fuel surcharge is waived off and no joining fee. Sounded fine so I told I am interested in. Anybody has info on this card. I was told it is named as ICICI Cashback card but I don't see any such card in their website

My ICICI Bank Credit Card was recently replaced with a chip-based credit card (though it also has the magstripe on the back).

Now when I used it for a few POS transactions, neither of these required my PIN to be entered, even when the transaction was done using chip authentication. When I asked the bank folks to clarify, they say it's POS-dependent, while I thought the whole point of having a chip-based card was to ensure card-level security through PIN requirement.


What gives?

Most of the times when I am putting the PIN at a shop the counter person & the shopping assistant stand next to me and watch the PIN I am putting! :Frustrati

Most POS devices are nowadays PIN-compatible. Very rarely do I see one that isn't. The issuing bank also needs to mark the card as PIN mandatory, which in your case hasn't been done it appears.

For me, Citibank made PIN mandatory a few months back while HDFC Bank hasn't done so yet.

Of course, for debit cards all banks have made it mandatory (after RBI telling them to do so) from 1/12/2013.

You need to tell them to move away. I do this all the time. It is your card, you also need to take some responsibility for its security.