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Disabling computer chip on debit card

W

wpshooter

Golden Member
Is it possible to disable the embedded computer chip which is found on recently issued debit cards and still have the card be usable in ATMs by using the magnetic strip on the card ?

I have researched this but unfortunately it seems that most of the articles I have found are a bit old in the tooth/outdated.

Thanks.
 
I'm not sure if any deadline has been updated, but the last I saw, Master Card had a deadline of Oct 1, 2016 for ATMs and Visa had a deadline of Oct 1, 2017 for ATMs to remove the magnetic stripe. ATMs can certainly use the stripe for longer, but then the liability is on the ATM owner for any fraudulent use. That is a pretty strong incentive to upgrade the ATM to chip only.

Is this a tin foil thread or is there a legitimate reason not to want a chip?

Having been stymied many times when travelling and not having a chip card, I was very happy to finally get chips.
 
In my experience with cards from a few different banks, any card that is programmed with a chip will not allow the magnetic stripe to be used in any machine that has a chip reader. So if you disable the chip somehow (destroying it is the only way I know of) then you lose all use of the card in any machine that has a chip reader.
 
You have to go to Baker county in George and lick the chip on the first day of spring. You missed it this year but you can try again next year
 
My card doesn't even have a chip and it is annoying now that I am starting to run into places that only accept the chip.
 
local said:
My card doesn't even have a chip and it is annoying now that I am starting to run into places that only accept the chip.
Click to expand...
My new credit union just issued me a card that has no chip. (they make them in-house) I don't use that card much, but expect to have issues in the next year or so...luckily I have a bunch of checks for that account if it comes to that.
 
Scarpozzi said:
My new credit union just issued me a card that has no chip. (they make them in-house) I don't use that card much, but expect to have issues in the next year or so...luckily I have a bunch of checks for that account if it comes to that.
Click to expand...
"You don't want to take my card, eh? That's alright, we can all just stand here for about five minutes while I fill this out one letter at a time, then do the same in my checkbook. Gotta keep those books balanced you know!"
 
My credit unions position was that there are so few instances of card skimming that it was not worth the cost to add chips and they would handle any fraudulent charges in house. I am assuming that as time goes by the chip will become the default and no longer carry an extra charge.
 
My new debit card with a chip a few months ago. Swiped by habit for the first couple of weeks. Almost every time I was told to use the chip reader.
 
mpo said:
My new debit card with a chip a few months ago. Swiped by habit for the first couple of weeks. Almost every time I was told to use the chip reader.
Click to expand...
Yeah I do that too, though sometimes it's just confusing, as they have a chip reader but tell me it's not on or something. Now I just stick it in if I see the slot, and only swipe if they tell me to.
 
Why would you disable the chip? You can't really choose to use the magnetic strip, most stores' machines are going to try the chip 3 times before it falls back to telling you to swipe it. So every time you go to use the card you'll have to "try" the chip 3 times before it lets you use the strip. I've had the chip go flaky on some cards before and this is what happens.

Now if you're talking about the RFID chip then yeah you can probably get away with disabling that. There's various tutorials online but basically a hole puncher will do it. I never bothered to do it with my card though. The RFID tech on debit/credit cards has always been a stupid idea. Someone with the right equipment can just walk by you and get enough info to make a transaction.
 
I just use cash. Fast, accurate, anonymous, and I don't have to hold up the line fucking around with a machine.
 
lxskllr said:
I just use cash. Fast, accurate, anonymous, and I don't have to hold up the line fucking around with a machine.
Click to expand...
Hmm, in my experience cards are usually a little faster on average. So for less being faster, cards < cash <<<<<<< checks <<<< (<)^1000 << people with coupons.
 
Ugh I hate people who have coupons, especially when they try to argue against the limits. Like most coupons will have a limit like "5 per person" or "only 1 coupon per purchase" etc. you always get the ones that try to argue against the limits. "but it does not apply to this coupon so I should still be able to use it, even though the other coupon has a limit, this one does not so it does not count!". I was behind a lady once arguing over this. She was literally saving 5 cents off toilet paper. I almost offered to just pay for it so we can move on. There was a huge line.

Seems going back to cash is not a bad idea though especially in this age of tracking. I've seen ads based on stuff I've purchased before. It's kinda creepy the amount of tracking that goes on even IRL and how it can link to your online life, and vise versa.
 
BxgJ said:
Hmm, in my experience cards are usually a little faster on average. So for less being faster, cards < cash <<<<<<< checks <<<< (<)^1000 << people with coupons.
Click to expand...
Every time I go in a store...

Swipe...

"Is this a chip card?"

poke it in

pull it out

poke it in

wait.....

pull it out

poke it in

wait....

Success!!

Pick up their crap, and get out of my way.
 
Fardringle said:
In my experience with cards from a few different banks, any card that is programmed with a chip will not allow the magnetic stripe to be used in any machine that has a chip reader. So if you disable the chip somehow (destroying it is the only way I know of) then you lose all use of the card in any machine that has a chip reader.
Click to expand...

Except that the chip reader is often inoperable in many places. And then you go in a week later and it is. And then it's not working, but you can still swipe. Then they replace the entire POS system and it's all different the next week.

It amazes me how many different routines I go through at different place when using the same card. Chip and pin, chip and no pin, chip and signature, swipe and pin (what?), swipe and signature, swipe and no signature.
 
Interesting. I haven't had these bad experiences at all with the chip readers. And it's not like swiping always worked flawlessly either.

For me it's cc via tap -> cc via chip -> cc via swipe -> and if that doesn't work, then debit via tap -> debit via chip -> debit via swipe -> and if that don't work, cash.

Probably 99% of the transactions are on cc, keeps it easy to track spending so that's good for keeping the budget accurate and simple. Plus I collect about a vacation worth of cashback every year, that I wouldn't get otherwise. It's essentially a perpetual fee month long 0% loan with cashback, so why not? The only downsides can occur if I'm doing it wrong.

While traveling I tend to use local cash more often, since cc is not always available in some other countries. But here in Canada, it's pretty rare to encounter any transaction that isn't better via cc. I have no major qualms about the chip part, but tap to pay is definitely best.
 
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