{"id":316,"date":"2011-12-01T15:52:56","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T15:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=316"},"modified":"2022-04-15T02:09:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T02:09:51","slug":"us-credit-cards-and-international-travel-%e2%80%93-recipe-for-frustration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2011\/12\/us-credit-cards-and-international-travel-%e2%80%93-recipe-for-frustration\/","title":{"rendered":"US Credit Cards and International Travel \u2013 Recipe for Frustration?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent member-submitted poll question within the Peeriosity<\/a> Corporate Card research area served as a catalyst for an excellent discussion in regards to providing corporate travelers with a credit card that can work in all locations outside the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over 75% of the poll respondents, representing travel-card managers from leading global companies indicated that US-based travelers using their company-issued travel credit card<\/a> had experienced difficulties in making payments at some combination of hotels, restaurants, or railway stations \u2013 essentials for business travel \u2013 while outside the US.<\/p>\n

\"US<\/a>The issue stems from the overwhelming majority of US cards relying on magnetic-strip technology rather than embedded microprocessor chips (\u201cchip & PIN\u201d), which have become the global standard. With chip & PIN, users no longer sign but instead key a PIN to authorize the purchase. Magnetic-strip cards are quickly becoming obsolete outside of the US primarily due to ease of fraud compared to the newer technology.<\/p>\n

While major hotels have no issue with handling magnetic-strip cards, mass transportation, and restaurants can be more challenging. Most forms of transportation require chip technology either through kiosks or portable card readers. In major cities outside North America, restaurants have the means to accept the old technology but in many cases, the staff is not familiar with or trained in how to process the magnetic-strip card transaction.\u00a0 In smaller cities, the only options are chip & PIN cards or cash. Fortunately, magnetic-strip cards are still readable by ATMs globally and many travelers are relying on using cash withdrawals when incurring problems. In our poll question, 57% indicated that US-based travelers were using cash for a significant amount of international travel expenses<\/a> that would normally be on a card, not the ideal situation.<\/p>\n

The poll question and ensuing discussion indicated a few different ways organizations and the managers of travel card programs are addressing the issue. A few representative comments include:<\/p>\n