In message , at 00:22:12 on Sun, 26
Feb 2012, " remarked:
UK credit cards and proximity cards are different things.

They are "converging things". I don't know of any post-payment proximity
cards that aren't also conventional credit cards. But only a few
conventional credit cards have the proximity technology.

Barclays Bank, IIRC.

Barclaycards, which were at one time all VISA, but I have a Barclay
Mastercard, just to prove it's possible.

I was referring to the fact that Barclays Bank apparently offers the
proximity service with its card.

It is well known to do so. But there are others. This news story
clarifies many of the myths expressed in this thread:

http://www.mbna.co.uk/about-us/news-...ches-the-uk-s-
first-american-express-branded-contactless-credit-cards/
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 00:33:53 on
Sun, 26 Feb 2012, Charles Ellson remarked:
http://conversation.which.co.uk/mone...tactless-card/
refers to a PIN being used for any transaction over 15 UKP or any
taking the running daily total over 50 UKP.

The £50 limit is mentioned in a blog comment, I think I'd like to see
the words coming from a bank.

£50 sounds a lot like "the average amount you'll run up before meeting a
random PIN check". Do any of the banks publish the algorithm?

Barclays themselves seem to present it as a random check but various
reports/reviews/etc. by third parties on an assortment of dates imply
a 50 UKP cumulative "trigger" which presumably does not need all
following transactions on the same day to be PINned unless they also
trigger any warning signs typical of fraudulent activity.

Does the card accumulate a daily total to police this £50 limit? I
hadn't heard that.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
at 23:36:53 on Sat, 25 Feb 2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:

I routinely spend amounts of the order of a thousand dollars at
retailers by Chip and PIN card, and it's a one-shot process.

If that's true, then I suspect your credit limit is stored on the card.

It isn't. What you have to accept is that things are done differently in
USA vs the rest of the world.

No, I don't believe that your purchases aren't getting authorizations, sorry.
The account has to be verified as active and that your available credit
is sufficient for the transaction. It's basic fraud fighting.

They are getting authorised, but by C&P, not by the "two step process"
you were speculating about.

Which has nothing to do with checking to see if the account holder has
exceeded his available credit, which you told us is not maintained on
the card. You're missing a step.

Roland Perry wrote:
at 16:55:37 on Sat, 25 Feb 2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:

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.

Perhaps I just don't spend enough money to run into that ceiling, but I
regularly charge amounts up to ~USD 3k.

My bank does periodically call me /after the fact/ to verify atypical
transactions, but merchants never see that: their authorization goes
through normally.

Like I said before, I had a $300 transaction in the USA which resulted
in the retailer having to make a phone call, and subsequently asking me
for ID (which I thought wasn't allowed, but there you are).

Why wouldn't he ask? Your transaction was flagged.

Sure would be nice if you retained the attribution lines per quote
level so we can all tell who said what.

In message , at 13:59:00 on Sun, 26 Feb
2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
I routinely spend amounts of the order of a thousand dollars at
retailers by Chip and PIN card, and it's a one-shot process.

If that's true, then I suspect your credit limit is stored on the card.

It isn't. What you have to accept is that things are done differently in
USA vs the rest of the world.

No, I don't believe that your purchases aren't getting authorizations, sorry.
The account has to be verified as active and that your available credit
is sufficient for the transaction. It's basic fraud fighting.

They are getting authorised, but by C&P, not by the "two step process"
you were speculating about.

Which has nothing to do with checking to see if the account holder has
exceeded his available credit, which you told us is not maintained on
the card. You're missing a step.

There's one step each way, if that's what you are being pedantic about.

My one step: Enter PIN which is checked, and terminal asks CCC
for auth for the exact amount, checking for stolen
cards, floor limits and available credit.
Their one step: [Usually] CCC sends auth to retailer's terminal, which
displays "accepted".
--
Roland Perry

On 2/25/2012 12:30 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
If that's true, then I suspect your credit limit is stored on the card.

If that was the case, the credit card issuers would not be able to
change the ceilings on the fly. That is before the card expires. And the
issuers can do that quite frequently at their discretion.

In message , at 14:02:21 on Sun, 26 Feb
2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
Like I said before, I had a $300 transaction in the USA which resulted
in the retailer having to make a phone call, and subsequently asking me
for ID (which I thought wasn't allowed, but there you are).

Why wouldn't he ask? Your transaction was flagged.

I was under the impression that merchant agreements in the USA did not
allow them to ask for ID. How they resolve flagged transactions, if
that's the case, isn't my problem.

http://consumerist.com/2008/02/apple...t-card-purchas
es-violates-merchant-agreement.html
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
at 13:59:00 on Sun, 26 Feb 2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:

I routinely spend amounts of the order of a thousand dollars at
retailers by Chip and PIN card, and it's a one-shot process.

If that's true, then I suspect your credit limit is stored on the card.

It isn't. What you have to accept is that things are done differently in
USA vs the rest of the world.

No, I don't believe that your purchases aren't getting authorizations,
sorry. The account has to be verified as active and that your
available credit is sufficient for the transaction. It's basic fraud
fighting.

They are getting authorised, but by C&P, not by the "two step process"
you were speculating about.

Which has nothing to do with checking to see if the account holder has
exceeded his available credit, which you told us is not maintained on
the card. You're missing a step.

There's one step each way, if that's what you are being pedantic about.

I was being pedantic, when YOU were claiming that the procedure was
different than here? It took you an amazing five followups to convey
specific information about authorizations; that was helpful.

My one step: Enter PIN which is checked, and terminal asks CCC
for auth for the exact amount, checking for stolen
cards, floor limits and available credit.
Their one step: [Usually] CCC sends auth to retailer's terminal, which
displays "accepted".

Does the retailer also receive a transaction ID number, a number that
also appears on the cardholder's monthly statement?

If so, then the procedure is comparable to what happens here.

Sancho Panza wrote:
On 2/25/2012 12:30 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

If that's true, then I suspect your credit limit is stored on the card.

If that was the case, the credit card issuers would not be able to
change the ceilings on the fly. That is before the card expires. And the
issuers can do that quite frequently at their discretion.

He finally provided some clarification about authorization. I didn't
quite believe that a central server wasn't being queried for available
credit.

Roland Perry wrote:
at 14:02:21 on Sun, 26 Feb 2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:

Like I said before, I had a $300 transaction in the USA which resulted
in the retailer having to make a phone call, and subsequently asking me
for ID (which I thought wasn't allowed, but there you are).

Why wouldn't he ask? Your transaction was flagged.

I was under the impression that merchant agreements in the USA did not
allow them to ask for ID. How they resolve flagged transactions, if
that's the case, isn't my problem.

Your card issuer didn't know you were traveling for whatever reason,
so the transaction appeared to be suspicious as it occurred in a
location they didn't expect it to be used in. Doesn't that sound
reasonable to you?

http://consumerist.com/2008/02/apple...agreement.html

I'm not reading that article, irrelevant to your situation.