card not accepted in French petrol pumps
 

3 weeks ago I travelled through France and my visa cards were not accepted in the French petrol pumps on the peage service stations, how can I get my cards accepted

Made me grumpy too--especially on Sunday mornings when no one but me seemed to be interested in buying petrol. I understood the problem to involve incompatible cards--mine are magnetic strip, the French cards use chip and pin.

The solution: wait for someone else to come along and offer them cash. This means carrying cash euros and trying not to be in any sort of hurry, particularly on Sundays.

Yes, I got filled up a few times by others then gave them euro's.

deleted

had a similar problem at "some" filling stations last year. I found that if my visa debit cards didn't work, often my mastercard credit card worked. ? But it is important to make sure your bank have been notified of your travel plans before you leave. For HSBC you can do this online using internet banking service, but the business banking I found had to be by phone. Other banks I don't know.

also be aware
 

That many petrol pumps "reserve" about £100 off your card limit. this reserve can take up to a week before it is removed. This can quickly deplete the available balance on your account.

I've had this as well, only in france, and, rather inconveniently, only in unmanned fuel stations. had to buy fuel off someone else, which, given the problems with counterfeit money, is good of them.

I have had the same problem using my (Canadian) credit cards at automated facilities in France, both this year and in past years.

For example, this year, my MasterCard, which has a chip and PIN, did not work at any of the automated tool booths in France - even though it worked fine at attended gas stations in France. But, in past years, it has not worked at unattended gas stations in France. This same card has always worked for me in every other country I have visited, and I have been in over 50 different countries this year.

I think France must have some unique and peculiar system country-wide for processing credit card purchases - or, the monopoly operators of the unattended systems just can't be bothered to go to the trouble of accepting out of country cards.

I had this problem last year in France - Esso garages only - as already been noted
I notice that Barclays have now rescinded their stipulation that one has to notify them of which countries you may be visiting, etc. Although I have had my Barclays Visa Debit card rejected by a Bank in Austria yesterday (or was it Italy??) - NatWest Mastercard worked ok though (although nowt in the account!)
Brian
euro-jaunt-2013.blogspot.com
didn't realise HuBB has blogging faciliy....

In the few times I used my cards at pumps in France, they always worked fine. I did however contact all my bank and credit card companies prior to my trips advising countries to be visited and dates. One time I forgot to contact them and had all sorts of hassle trying to use cards in shops/hotels/fuel stations.

None of my bank or credit cards are issued by Barclays

Hi
Same as Chris, had a similar problem in early 2012 especially in Carrefour and Esso stations.
It was
1. Because they pre-authorise - and it can fluff up your balance
2. Not informing the issuing bank of pre-destination, even in Europe can hinder card acceptance and block certain uses.
Good luck!

I don't think that the problem of credit cards not being accepted at certain French self-serve gas stations (or unattended toll booths) is in any way related to needing to advise the credit card issuer that you will be travelling out of country, or related to pre-authorization issues.

I have a very good relationship with my credit card issuer, because I use this same credit card to buy aircraft fuel when I deliver aircraft internationally (my day job). I have been in over 50 countries this year, and never had the card 'declined' (i.e. rejected due to location). I also have a ridiculously high credit limit on the card, which is kind of essential because it can cost over $5,000 for one fill-up of the aircraft.

When my card is rejected in France, the machine just spits it right back out after reading it - within a second or two. That is not sufficient time for any communication between the credit card terminal and the card issuer... it suggests to me that the card is being rejected because the first 4 digits of the card number (which identify the card issuer) show that it is an out-of-country card, and for one reason or another, the French gas station or French toll booth operator has elected to not accept out-of-country cards.

Michael

This ^^^. I have high-limit cards I use all over the world. At French self-serve petrol stations plus in train station ticket machines scattered around Europe I can't use them. I assumed it was a chip-and-pin issue, but maybe not. In any case, it's not about pre-authorization, anti-theft measures, or credit limits, at least for me.

A relatively minor irritation in the context of a big trip, particularly once prepared for the possibility.

Mark

Mark and Michael
I'd bet a pint on it, that it's as described by myself and ChiefFrog. jeiger CF, myself and the OP are using British bank cards. Either way, I'm not fussed.

The minor inconvenience for me, prior to a trip, to remember to call my banks and have some of them try to sell me extra random sh!te services while they have a captive audience is outweighed by trouble free currency withdrawals and credit card transactions throughout Europe in mainstream places like France and Germany and the slightly more exotic Maccedonia and Bulgaria.

Chris

It is common for banks and credit card issuers to block cards whenever they detect movements in certain countries. In Africa this is fairly common but it can be easily solved by calling the bank and advising them that you will be visiting this or that country. The reason for this procedure concerns safety procedures. Most cards have some sort of unauthorised use insurance attached therefore the issuers tend to be very cautious.

On what concerns the pre-autorisation at gas stations which blocks a certain ammount (usually 100 €/£/$) it is also fairly common. The problem is that it blocks that ammount on the spot and then it takes its time to return it to the account. While withdrawals are inmediate, the return of funds to an account by means of a credit or debit card takes several days to complete, reason why only after several days is the money returned to the account or card.

Some of us will have good credit records and others will not
 

The common theme is that you are all correct, even though you have different experiences in the use of credit and debit cards; this is simply because different banks have different rules and procedures for both the issuing of cards and the prevention of fraud

if that was the case, and the card was stopped for fraud prevention reasons, then I wouldn't be able to use it afterwards until I had called the bank to take the stop off, which isn't what happens.

Also, it only happens in French self service stations, so it is evident it is a problem with the way those facilities process the cards or the cards they accept and nothing to do with the bank or their security measures, which I have been subject to on numerous occasions and are entirely different to this problem.

Yup.

Or should I say, "That corresponds to my personal experience....?"

Obviously, there are several separate issues here, and each of us can only report what we know about our own personal situation. In my case, nothing whatsoever to do with credit holds, limits, or fraud prevention. In someone else's case, who knows? In the end, French petrol stations are a particular headache for many of us.

Mark

I'm with Markharf and PanEuropean - in my experience it's been nothing to do with my bank, just with a minority of filling stations not taking out-of-country cards.

I've done a lot of miles in France over the last 12 years or so, and I've only twice had issues getting fuel. The first time we just went and found a manned station. The other was Bastille Day, so nothing else was open and we had to resort to waiting for a local and giving them cash.

I wondered at the time if they'd turned off the 'accept British cards' function just as an expression of patriotism for the day, as we had no problems the rest of the trip. :D

If you think France is bad (I don't) then you don't want to come to the US. I've been here eight weeks and found no more two or three stations which would take any of my UK Visa cards. If you're doing a lot of miles, you need to be carrying a lot of cash. Almost all will require you to prepay if using cash.

Yep, that is more like I was trying to say in my last post, rushing about while waiting for a skype call.
Personally, I have had no problems with the French auto fuel stations in both March and April this year; I was very pleased to come across these because they have solved all of those issues that have been going on for years about refuelling in France, especially on Sundays.
So, it might be worth checking with your bank if you do have issues; if the fuel machine is reserving a chunk of your CC limit each time you fill up and you are travelling distance (I filled multi-times per day with no problems) then your credit limit may be too low - it's not just about fraud prevention.
(As per an earlier post, I'm not with Barclays either).

I have come across manned Belgium fuel stations that do a similar thing; you have to go inside and get your CC swiped before the fuel pump will fire up its motor and work.

In France you must have a card with a PIN code. It is for your own protection and your bank can supply you with one; If not, change the bank!

Sure, but be aware that the big supermarket outlets for fuel are switching over to unattended pumps - they work by pre-authorising a debit/credit card before the fuel pump is automatically "primed" to issue fuel to you. Basically, the fuel pump is following a computer program in which you need to play your (human) part.
I haven't noticed if they will accept cash.

Thanks for the info, travelling through France next month and can do without the card issue.

Cheers Tom.

Unless you are in the most wealthy, (supposedly) technologically-advanced nation in the world, in which case there's no chip and pin, just a magnetic stripe, and only occasionally will you even get asked for a signature (which the cashier will never bother checking against the back of the card).

Ah! You might be susceptible to reading into the "bank and bankers" thread.
:oops2::offtopic:


The UK was very slow to adopt the chip and pin technology: I don't recall all the excuses that came from the bankers at the time, but IIRC they were concerned about the costs, to them, of introducing it.
doh

Dash:

I used to have a problem using my Canadian credit card at American gas stations, until I figured out the trick:

If you 'pay at the pump' (in other words, insert your card into the pump to get it authorized prior to pumping the fuel), the pump will ask you to input your zip code (American postal code), which is, of course, something that visitors from outside the country don't have.

All you have to do is enter any 5 digits (for example, 22222), and that will enable you to proceed to the next step in the authorization process. The authorization computer will recognize that you are from out of the country and then disregard the zip code you entered, and the transaction will be authorized.

The silly thing is that you can't get the connection to the authorization computer unless you enter a zip code - spurious or not.

Michael

Best solution.

Don't go to France.

Works for me

There are lots of great countries around it.

P


Sent by Peter from His IThingy.

The petrol pump phenomena can be found in other countries; a kind of Pan-European feature.
(there's a pun in there, somewhere).

France can be avoided if one really wants to, but a lot of ferry services from the UK land in that country, for their own good reasons.
And then, there is a tunnel.

I did think of trying that, but I guess never actually tried.

The situation could be quite simple really, and may have nothing to do with petrol station , or any other card reader in France for that matter. Before you leave home, ie the country where your card was issued, make sure your bank has cleared it for overseas use. Some card issuers put a block on anything coming from an overseas request in case the cards been stolen.

It could be, but it's not - in my experience and that of several others who have posted.

It's France. It has it's own way of doing things. That's just the way it is.
A shrug of the shoulders and yer stuffed :D