In great news for consumers, MasterCard has wisely decided to cover transactions made with a personal identification number (PIN) under their zero fraud liability protection. This means that both ATM and chip & PIN transactions will now be covered.
This is a logical step forward for MasterCard given that more and more card issuers are giving consumers access to cards that are chip & PIN enabled. Previously their zero fraud liability insurance didn’t cover transactions where a PIN was used. This change in policy will not take place until October.
Visa has not replied to our repeated contact requests asking whether they will also be changing their zero fraud liability policy as well. This is despite calls from Visa that card issuers should be updating their credit card products to EMV chip enabled before October 2015. American Express doesn’t have any fine print that excludes PIN transactions from their coverage. Discover doesn’t currently offer cards that are EMV chip enabled, but similarly they do not have an outclause for PIN transactions.
Barclay was the latest card issuer to offer a chip + PIN enabled card with their Barclay Arrival Plus product. This is a MasterCard product and as such PIN transactions will be covered under the new policy. We’ve added this information to our guide to MasterCard benefits.
If you are unhappy with Visa’s policy of not covering PIN transactions, let them know. We’d recommend calling them directly and also calling your Visa card issuers and letting them know that you will be reducing your spend on all Visa cards include Visa offers protection for PIN enabled transactions. It should only be a matter of time before Visa follows MasterCard with these changes to their fraud liability program.
