If you’re standing at a checkout and the chip won’t work on your credit card, don’t give up right away. Here’s what to do when you swipe but can’t complete your purchase because of a debit or credit card chip not working. I’ll also tell you how to clean the chip on your credit card so it’s less likely to give you a problem again.
Your options include swiping, then inserting the chip and repeating three times. Some merchants allow this. Another option is cleaning the chip on the spot, which you can do by rubbing the chip with a dollar bill. If the chip is just dirty, which is the most common problem, this will usually clean it enough that it will work, even if it gets you funny looks.
Chips are a new security feature to reduce fraud, but it’s hard to appreciate them when a broken chip keeps you from completing your purchase. It happened to a longtime friend, and another friend of his provided a solution. I had to share it, because I know it will happen to others.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.
