In message , at 15:28:15 on Sat, 25 Feb
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
No, UK credit cards also have a magnetic stripe on the back, so they can
be swiped through a US retail terminal. You just have to sign on the
transaction, rather than use your PIN.

Only if, as above, the transaction is above the merchant's floor limit.
When using my UK credit card in the US I only needed to sign for some
transactions.

There's some over-simplification here. While I agree that some retailers
(especially high-margin ones like restaurants) may not require a
signature, there's a second floor limit above which they have to call
the credit card company. That limit seems to me to be much lower than
you'd get in the UK for a similar transaction verified by PIN.

By "call the credit card company", do you mean actually speak with a
human, or just do a standard automated authorization?

With a human.

The merchant's "floor" allows them to post transactions below a certain
threshold without prior authorization. At least in the US, the floor is
usually USD 25-50, though for some merchants it's $0 due to high
chargeback rates.

Yes, that's [US] Credit Card 101.

The occasional machine, e.g. at gas stations, wanted to know my home
zip code (which, of course, I don't have) but I was able to pay in
the kiosk. (US gas stations need payment before dispensing fuel,
rather than afterwards, as in the UK.)

There's some over-generalisation here, it depends where you are in the
USA; some places need payment first, others don't. It depends a little
on the local demographic.

More specifically, it will depend on the drive-off (i.e. theft) rate at
that location or in that neighborhood.

And you can't predict that by the demographic, of course.
--
Roland Perry