AIB merchants not accepting non-EMV (chip) credit cards anymore?

S

sister ray

Guest
I was in my local pharmacy yesterday to pick up a subscription, and when
we tried to pay with my partner's US credit card, the pharmacy employee
refused the payment with that card, as it doesn't have a chip.

Her line was that AIB instructed their merchant accounts that only chipped
credit cards are now accepted (apparently since the 1st of July).

Obviously, this poses a problem, as we have a valid means of payment,
but potentially no way to use in shops that have their credit card terminal
through an AIB merchant account.

I tried to call AIB, but after being sent around the call-centre for 20
minutes or so, they were unable to answer the question.
We also called the US card provider, and asked if they were able to hook
us up with a EMV chipped card, but apparently no US card providers are
actually taking part in the EMV chip program (being one of the only countries
in the world where this seems the case).




The questions I'm looking to get an answer on are:
  1. Is it even legal to refuse the payment with the non-chipped card in the first place?
  2. Does anybody know more about AIB's decision? Is the shop in error, or...?
  3. Any other suggestions that don't amount to "get a local credit card instead", we have one.
Any help would be welcome!

Kind regards,

Sister Ray
 
I was in a restaurant in Paris last week and noticed that the American couple near us also tried to use a credit card (amex in this situation) and the restaurant would not accept it. The couple had to pay cash. I used an american amex (not chip and pin) in a restaurant in Dublin a couple of weeks ago and had no difficulty with using my signature to sign off. This probably doesnt help you but its probably up to the vendor to decide which type of payments he will accept and there seems to be some ambiguity here.
 
OP, I'm not a fan of nor an apologist for any bank, credit-card company or other financial institution, but your partner's problem is not with AIB, but with the issuer of the card in the US. Have you tried outlets that use terminals issued by banks other than AIB? (e.g. BoI, Ulster, etc.)

Can the issuer of the card provide a list of outlets who will use the old mag-stripe / manual signature authentication methods the card still has or does their US web-site offer any guidance?

I'm assuming the card still works in ATM's for (expensive) cash-advances as this still works with the mag-stripe.
 
Its a sign of the times that Amerian Cards are not at the cutting edge anymore.

Back in the day the American Express Card was the business.

ONQ.
 
I think (but could be wrong) that merchants were instructed not to take European credit cards that didn't have chips. American cards may never have chips. You could ask the cashier to try to card in the terminal and see what the card rules say?

AmEx is a different kettle of fish - plenty of merchants (including several large chains) have opted not to accept it recently because of the extra charges and administration required.

onq said:
Its a sign of the times that Amerian Cards are not at the cutting edge anymore.
Click to expand...

Whether EMV cards are cutting edge is debatable - American merchants usually require state and photographic identification which is arguably more secure than EMV.
 
markpb said:
... - American merchants usually require state and photographic identification which is arguably more secure than EMV.
Click to expand...
As discussed here previously, with links to merchant agreements, American merchants are specifically barred from requesting supplementary or additional ID under the terms of their merchant agreements with the card suppliers. Either they accept the card or they don't. Consumers have been instructed to report US merchants requesting additional ID to the card suppliers.
 
mathepac said:
As discussed here previously, with links to merchant agreements, American merchants are specifically barred from requesting supplementary or additional ID under the terms of their merchant agreements with the card suppliers. Either they accept the card or they don't. Consumers have been instructed to report US merchants requesting additional ID to the card suppliers.
Click to expand...

That's not quite true (from my understanding) - merchants cannot refuse a transaction if the customer refuses to present ID. Many states legally preclude them from recording any information from the customers ID if it is presented.

Visa
When should you ask a cardholder for an official government ID? Although Visa rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID, merchants cannot make an ID a condition of acceptance. Therefore, merchants cannot refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to provide ID. Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of their regular card acceptance procedures.
Click to expand...

Mastercard
A merchant must not refuse to complete a MasterCard card transaction solely because a cardholder who has complied with the conditions for presentment of a card at the POI [point of interaction] refuses to provide additional identification information, except as specifically permitted or required by the Standards.
Click to expand...
 
I would call the US bank in question and report this issue, they even might ask you to complain to Visa/Mastercard in the US because this is just crazy.

Large parts of the world don’t use EMV chipped cards so if AIB would refuse such cards than tourists from all over the world would not be able to pay in Ireland and I don’t think that is what AIB wants.

In fact I had the same discussion recently with my US Visa card, I dialled 1-800-55-8002 (The Visa Global Card Assistance Service) on the spot and told them what was going on. They then managed to convince the shop that using a US visa card in Ireland was possible.

I think in your case the retailer was just misinformed.
 
I use AIB merchant services in my workplace and we still accept non chip and pin - swipe or number entry.
 
I worked on the chip project for an Irish processor. The practise is that the merchant decides, based on their own acceptance of the risk.

If they process chipped cards, they have no risk (the issuing bank accepts the risk that the cardholder revealed/lost their PIN).

If the merchant processes an unchipped card, they assume the risk of the transaction.

I assume that quite simply the boss of the pharmacy has instructed staff not to accept unchipped cards.
 
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