Called several banks and wouldn’t you know it, no bank carries the currency we need. Sure they have US dollars (USD) and one has Euros, but nobody carries Swiss Francs (CHF). So I had to order it.
Luckily we will be able to use and depend on credit cards, but many places in Europe require payment for using restroom facilities and some smaller places do not accept credit cards. Paying for restrooms is not a problem, usually 1 Euro, because they are clean! Unlike most public restrooms in the U.S.
We’re trusting that our credit cards will work in Switzerland (no less than 7 phone calls with bank representatives tell me it will work). Most European countries require chip and PIN cards. They are cards free of a magnetic strip but have a chip and require a PIN to complete the transaction.
Here in the U.S. We use mostly magnetic strip cards with a signature. Although many banks are rolling out chip and signature cards, our credit cards are still old style. Europe adopted the technology YEARS ago and the U.S. has been slow to do so. It’s hard to understand why given the amount of credit card fraud in the U.S. Is very high and with a chip and PIN card it could be a lot lower. Banks using chip and PIN experience significantly less fraud than the U.S. does with magnetic strip and signature cards. So would be theives in Europe turn to the U.S. to commit fraud because is so much easier. You know, theives for the most part are lazy and want the easiest path to riches.
If you have a magnetic strip card, be on the lookout for a chip card coming to your mailbox probably in the next few months. MasterCard is releasing them starting this month, if you have a Visa card you may already have one in your wallet.