Ingenico signature Pad Troubleshooting

On the surface of it, Chip and PIN is a good idea. For starters, I find that it’s much easier to use the same four-digit PIN than it is to make my signature look the same each time I pay for something. I believe that it also has some added security implications, which is great news for us and bad news for fraudsters...

So what’s my problem then?

Well, I don’t have any problems with the concept of Chip and PIN, as such. I do, however, have issues quite specifically with the Ingenico 3300 PIN Pad terminals.

For some reason, whenever I try to use any of my Chip and PIN enabled credit or debit cards in these terminals, they refuse them almost without exception. Without fail, no matter which till I would choose at ASDA each week, my credit card would always get rejected. (This was back in the days when they’d just swipe the card and let you sign for it, but that’s not allowed anymore.) I’ve even replaced all my cards in the past and tried to pay with brand new ones without any success.

Recently at Somerfield, where they were using the same Ingenico terminals, I was faced with one of those embarrassing situations where I’d packed my shopping bags and I was then told that my card wasn’t accepted. If it was my card at fault then that would be fair enough – but when the problem lies with their faulty equipment, that just makes me mad.

I emailed Ingenico yesterday to tell them about the issue. The first email that I sent to the email address on their website bounced back (which made me even madder) but here’s how they replied when I eventually found a working email address (the emphasis being mine):

Thank you for your query below.

We do carry out rigorous tests on our terminals and these are carried out to industry standards. We are not aware of this fault being a widely experienced one.

We can only apologise and suggest that you contact your bank and advise them of the problems you have been experiencing with your cards.