You know when it gets to the PIN screen, sometimes it’ll say, “Press cancel/enter to continue” and you can just… bypass the PIN. Doesn’t that just defeat the purpose of the PIN?
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There are several reasons, but a large part of it is because American retailers and banks don’t want to make people actually remember and use their PIN, because that might cut into their profits either by people not being able to use their card because they forgot their PIN, or because they might have to buy POS gear that handles it.
In European and other countries, all in person card transactions are strictly Chip+PIN. Go to a restaurant? Server comes out with a POS device where you stick your card in and enter your PIN.
The U.S. is every so slowly inching that way, but it will be many years before we fully convert. And by that time, there will be a newer, more secure system in place probably, hah.
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