Voulez-vous accepte mon carte de Piggly Wiggly?

We in the states have been slowly lulled into a cash-free society. Now, like a frog in a kettle, the credit card companies are starting to jack up the fees on everyone, including those with perfect credit and no balances. Europe doesn’t seem to have gone all in on credit cards, and it really shows. Credit card surcharges coupled with frustrating (to us Americans) barriers to parting with our own, borrowed, money make for a stressful travel experience.

One new facet is the introduction of the chipped card, which is ubiquitous now in Europe. It allows for remote reading of the card (nerd on: predating RFID and the new NFC-capable smartphones) without swiping the magnetic stripe, but apparently offers additional security. The bad news is twofold.  First, we in the states have no way of getting a credit card or debit card with a euro-compatible chip. Second, all unattended kiosk transactions (think gas stations) absolutely require a chipped card, and many in person transactions require them as well.

What this means is that an American simply can no longer buy train tickets at a train station in Europe without waiting in line to talk to an agent (in Amsterdam it was even worse – cash only baby). These lines are longer than ever because everyone in Europe uses the flippin’ kiosks now because they’ve got chipped cards, so fewer people to talk to. Worse than that, however, is the fact that we also cannot use the absolutely wonderful, 100% socialistic, bicycle rental/loaner system that has taken hold of Paris. The bikes are everywhere and you can use them for what amounts to peanuts, leaving them at stations near your destination. But it requires a chipped card. Oh well.

Thanks big US banks. Thanks for nothing!

(pic unrelated, lunch at a small park near the Musee Bodin)