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My family and I are moving to Naples from the US in a few weeks and will be there for the next 3 years. I know that the credit cards with chips in them are all over Europe. It seems like chip+PIN card abound but here in the US I haven't been able to find a way to get them, only the chip+signature. I'd rather go with the chip+PIN as it seems more secure and I've also heard some stories of difficulties when you have the chip but no PIN (like at rail station automatic tellers and such). We'd also need something with no foreign transaction fee as well. Any recommendations on card(s) to get? Is this something we should get in the US before we leave or is it too much of a hassle and easier to just get a card when we arrive in Italy. Thanks.
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May 11, 2014 21:23
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| # ? May 12, 2024 19:08 |
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Slywalker13 posted:My family and I are moving to Naples from the US in a few weeks and will be there for the next 3 years. I know that the credit cards with chips in them are all over Europe. It seems like chip+PIN card abound but here in the US I haven't been able to find a way to get them, only the chip+signature. I'd rather go with the chip+PIN as it seems more secure and I've also heard some stories of difficulties when you have the chip but no PIN (like at rail station automatic tellers and such). We'd also need something with no foreign transaction fee as well. Any recommendations on card(s) to get? Is this something we should get in the US before we leave or is it too much of a hassle and easier to just get a card when we arrive in Italy. Thanks. I'm in Naples right now with my (American) family and their cards have so far been accepted everywhere. Automated gas stations and the like often won't accept them though. If you're here for 3 years you should just get an Italian bank. It is not uncommon to find places that won't accept old style credit cards, but it's only maybe 10-20% of the time. There are many more places that simply won't accept cards of any kind, so you should always have cash around. This doesn't really apply for major money purchases, like a nice restaurant, hotel, or Louis Vuitton store. Bank of America offers chip-and-PIN cards but it's just going to be so much easier if you open an account in Italy once you're over here.
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May 11, 2014 21:52
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Yeah, an EU-based bank will help dramatically with this. Either of the Swiss variety or even HSBC will help. Since you're living there for three years, I'm assuming you have all the appropriate documentation as it will be required to open an account.
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May 12, 2014 16:02
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I'm military and will be on base and was just planning on using USAA and NFCU for a bank but I'll have to look into opening a foreign account. Thanks!
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May 12, 2014 23:27
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If you have to get a card before you leave and you have the choice between Visa and Mastercard, go with Mastercard. It's much bigger in Europe.
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May 16, 2014 14:01
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EricBauman posted:If you have to get a card before you leave and you have the choice between Visa and Mastercard, go with Mastercard. It's much bigger in Europe. edit: I'm not Italian though.
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May 23, 2014 18:40
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Barclays Bank in the us is offering chip and pin with their world MasterCard. You'll want chip to pay tolls, get gas, get train tickets from machines, and not hold up the line at Carrefour while the poor lady figures out which piece of info she needs to copy from your drivers license after verifying your signature. (This happened today in France near the Italian border)
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May 30, 2014 22:34
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| # ? May 12, 2024 19:08 |
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Slywalker13 posted:I'm military and will be on base and was just planning on using USAA and NFCU for a bank but I'll have to look into opening a foreign account. Thanks! There's an Italian bank on the Capodichino base, I think it's Intesa San Paolo. You'll end up opening a bank account at either San Paolo or the other one (which I can't remember the name of - Community Bank? It's owned by Bank of America) to exchange for euros to pay your rent anyway if you live on the economy. edit: If you don't have USAA for car insurance, go ahead and get it now. USAA is one of the only American companies that can do the little Italian car insurance certificate and the international "green card" insurance that you'll need in Europe. Protip: Don't take a nice car to Naples, it's gonna get beat up/stolen/you'll have to put lovely AGIP gas in it, etc. US Berder Patrol fucked around with this message at 16:05 on May 31, 2014 |
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May 31, 2014 16:03
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