I tried to get gas last night, gas pump kept saying chip failure. So I tried my other debit card. Same thing. It's not unusual for that gas station to have issues, half the pump don't work at times, so I was frustrated, left without getting gas, but didn't think much of it.

From there I went to the grocery store. Same deal, chip error. This card is only 5 months old. For the heck of it I tried the more traditional magnetic swipe and it worked. (not an option at the gas station)

Tonight I really really needed fuel now, stopped at another station. Chip error again. Tried the other debit card (that I never use), same thing. Since I had about $10 cash on me, I tried the one credit card I keep with me... chip error. WTF? Did my butt get nuked!?

Ever heard of such a thing? I've had them die after years of use, wear and perhaps poor treatment, but these are all fairly new.

FYI - Generally, after three failures w/ a chip enabled card at the same POS terminal, it will/should let you swipe it using the magnetic strip.

The card has worked before? For the full 5 months that you’ve had it?

At the grocery store, chip error with BOTH cards again?

It sounds as though you’re into a streak of incredibly bad luck!

Maybe time for Apple Pay.

Nope.

You're on Double Secret Probation, as per Dean Wormer.
.

I didn't even realize till that moment that is was no swipe option at the gas station anymore. At least not the two places I went to. (I guess I probably could have inside)

I already ordered replacements for two of them. The one I use the most, the one that's 5 months old, it's more of a pain to replace. They seem to always fail right when I'm about to go away. Travel planned for next weekend, so of course they die. When the one crapped out in May, it was days before I was to leave town. That's happened a time or two over the years as well. Sigh.

You done fucked up, A A Ron.

You may wish to consider acquiring and using a wallet that incorporates an RF secure Faraday cage.

Big brother is salivating at the prospect of cutting off the money for anyone not following the program.
Aside from that I do replace my cards every 2-3 years when I see the wear and tear.

I use a CAC card at work. I kid you not, if your card doesn't work, IT tells you to rub the chip on your pants. It works.

There are several additional possibilities, one of which I have been hassled and contending with for at least 4 or 5 months and three new CCs.

a) Defective software at the master server site which is servicing your attempted transaction and which is seeking to disabuse thieves and hackers but simultaneously and erroneously bashing its customers' account numbers.


b) One or more of the machines which you yourself have repeatedly used for reading your credit/debit card, such as that at your favorite gas pump may be zapping your cards via internal RF within the reader, in which case you are probably SOL until you move the transactions elsewhere with a yet working card.

I can confirm that rubbing your CC on your trousers or with a paper towel works as well as a pump-it-yourself gas station attendant demonstrated for me. The problem may be a thin film of oil or a residual static charge.

You could just have a bad card. Get a new one. There is no EMP that would nuke your card and not have a huge impact in the vicinity on other electronics.

RFID sniffers can get everything they need without zapping your chip. And sniffing isn't even necessary anymore.

quote:

IT tells you to rub the chip on your pants. It works.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Any particular place on your pants?

I've had this problem and was finally told to wipe the chip area of the card on my cloths.
It worked, for now.

The one time my chip didn’t work at a pump, someone charged against that card in another state. I think there was a skimmer over the card reader.

Oh... I'v been rubbing them on other people's pants.

Awkward.

I've done the rubbing on pants bit more times than I can count. However I'll also note that chip readers are also prone to wear and they don't get serviced until enough complaints pile up to indicate that it's effecting sales. Post Covid things like maintaining equipment approaches nill, so a bad chip reader at a pump may not get serviced until the pump gets replaced.

Change your diet, you been ripping some gnarly farts. har har…

Question……when you replace a card because it simply wore out, does the replacement have the same card number as the old? I don’t want to have to reset the on-line subscriptions (like Chewy.com) and bills I’ve set up on auto pay through that CC. It’s only a few, but it’s still a PITA in case I were to forget one. TIA!

^^^^^
“… If you get a replacement card, you'll need to update your recurring payments with your new card number.

You'll receive a new card number when you request a replacement card. So automatic bill payments with your old card number will be declined unless you update your payment information. …”

https://www.creditkarma.com/cr...yment%20information.

I keep an e-diary. One entry has a list of places that need to have the CC number updated.

A bit of hand sanitizer and rubbing it with your fingers worked better for me, unless it’s dead. My credit union cards don’t last long.