No Chip: Although the Cash Passport Card has yet to migrate to the chip and PIN system, it should be accepted as a means of payment in the United Kingdom.

Chip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the Europay-Mastercard-Visa specifications for chip-based payment cards (EMV). This is an initiative that was formed by Europay International, MasterCard International and Visa International and aims at lowering credit and debit card fraud.

Although the transition to chip and PIN has been highly successful in the countries where it has already been implemented there have some teething problems that we would like our customers to be aware of. Some merchants in the UK have been refusing to use the old-style cards, those with magnetic strips, because they think that only chip and PIN card ought to be accepted now.

This is not true and the UK has launched a public awareness campaign to ensure that this misunderstanding does not inconvenience people. As the Cash Passport Card is a debit card and has yet to migrate to chip and PIN, users must be aware that the cards are still perfectly legal and should be accepted as means of payment.

If you are a Cash Passport Card user and you are experiencing problems don’t hesitate to contact us for help.