Chip & Pin Credit Cards and Thrifty Car Rental Ireland

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Visa and Mastercard Users Please Read Carefully

Please note that as and from March 17th 2007 it will no longer be possible for MasterCard or Visa card holders using their cards in to collect their car rental, complete a face to face transaction on a Chip and PIN card without their PIN number. For more information about the necessary requirements to rent from Thrifty Ireland, please see our FAQs. Please also be advised that this new regulation does not cover American renters.

What is Chip & PIN?
Chip & PIN is a faster, safer, more secure card payment system, which is helping to reduce specific card fraud types.

What is Chip?
A microchip is embedded into the credit or debit card, which contains secure account information. The information it holds ensures that the card is authentic and makes it difficult for a criminal to copy

What is PIN?
The PIN (Personal Identification Number) is a four-digit code, which is entered at the Point of Sale to prove that the person using the card is the true card holder. The PIN is used instead of signing a paper receipt.

Will card holders always have the option to sign instead of keying in a PIN (fallback to signature)?

The full benefits of fraud prevention that Chip & PIN can provide will only come into effect when all Chip and PIN card transactions are verified by PIN and the option for card holders to sign for Chip & PIN transactions has been removed. PIN Bypass Removal or 'PIN Day' will take place on 17 March 2007.

We strongly advise that customers who wish to use their Chip and PIN MasterCard or Visa in from March 17th ensure they know their PIN before they wish to make a transaction as it will no longer be possible for us to generate a receipt for customers to sign. Please contact your card provider if you are in any doubt if your card is PIN and Chip or if you need assistance in finding your PIN number. For security please do not disclose your PIN number to anyone.