Kroger now forces debit cards to use their pins

Date: Mar 15, 2016

RE: Kroger now forces debit cards to use their pins

AnonymousCutter · Guru

Its the same with CVS, Walgreens, etc. They wouldn't let me run it as credit due to the chip

4hourrush · Guru

It's not Kroger, places everywhere are starting this.

if you can use it as credit at your walmart, don't be surprised if you can't soon enough. For the last couple months every time i swipe my card at Walmart, it makes me put the chip side in instead.

Again, Kroger has a lot of things to really complain about but THIS.IS.NOT.ONE.OF.THEM.

Date: Mar 20, 2016

This is definitely a ridiculous move on Krogers part. They may save on fees but should forecast greater losses as a result of reduced patronage. Goodbye Krogers, hello Target, Walmart, Meijers, FreshThyme, Whole Foods, etc.

thanks,

Dissatisfied Customer

Date: Mar 20, 2016

Shopped at Kroger this morning and left my full cart at the register when I was told I could not use my bank card as credit. The cashier stated that Krogers instituted this policy in order to enhance consumer protection. What a crock. These cashiers are being mislead by their own company. Publicly entering a pin code increases the chances of theft by exposing direct access to your checking account. We'll see how much Krogers values their current customers when they all start going to Walmart, Meijers, etc. Bottom line is that Krogers is not the only grocer in town so don't be fooled into accepting their terms.

Sincerely,

Ex Kroger Customer

ProduceDumbass · Veteran Member

If y'all are really customers who ain't gonna shop at Kroger again, honestly good for you. This company is **** and anything that runs it into the ground quicker than corporate's stupidity is fine by me. But as merchants are at increasing liability for less secure transactions, all the big chains will switch over to Chip-and-PIN terminals soon enough. Within the next five years you'll probably be hard pressed to find a merchant that allows magswipe on a chip card, and they'll probably just about all phase out the ability to sign instead of verify with PIN.

Date: Mar 26, 2016

Anonymous wrote:
Shopped at Kroger this morning and left my full cart at the register when I was told I could not use my bank card as credit. The cashier stated that Krogers instituted this policy in order to enhance consumer protection. What a crock. These cashiers are being mislead by their own company. Publicly entering a pin code increases the chances of theft by exposing direct access to your checking account. We'll see how much Krogers values their current customers when they all start going to Walmart, Meijers, etc. Bottom line is that Krogers is not the only grocer in town so don't be fooled into accepting their terms.
Sincerely,
Ex Kroger Customer
I'm with you on this. Goodbye Kroger. You won't force me to use my card the way I don't want to.

Date: Mar 30, 2016

Why are they not Require a pin number on credit cards?

Date: Mar 30, 2016

By using your pin number you've also encourage the risk if I fraudulent charge. Using your debit cardAs a credit you know nothing. Using your debit card with a pin number you are legally liable for a large percentage of A fraudulent purchase.

Date: Apr 1, 2016

It's Walmart also!

Date: Apr 1, 2016

Anonymous wrote:
Publicly entering a pin code increases the chances of theft by exposing direct access to your checking account.

how do you figure? Having to know and use a PIN number keeps some random person who might find a card you dropped from using it (because they don't know your PIN) so how does the use of a PIN increase the chance of theft?

Date: Apr 2, 2016

I'm afraid to tell you that you will not be shopping anywhere after Oct 1st of 2016 then. This is a federal decision. Here's what i have observed in the past 3 weeks, since we had the Chip enabled terminals installed at our store.

If you have a Bank Card with a chip, The terminal forces you to use a pin

If you have a credit card with a chip, the terminal allows you to run the transaction as a credit.

If you attempt to slide the card, (as if your card doesn't have the chip) the terminal reconizes that, and tells you to use the chip reader.

Now, there's a ton of customers that is blaming Kroger for this, like yourself, and you will look and feel like a fool by Oct. This is going to be mandatory for all businesses moving forward.

Good Day

Date: Apr 4, 2016

What is happening on Oct 1st? Do you have a link ?

Date: Apr 4, 2016

I have a debit/Visa card and no other organization requires me to use it as a 'debit' card. I don't need to use my PIN and if I want cash I will go and get it from the bank. According to the US Bank FAQs page transactions can be processed as a credit or a debit and all debit cards have a daily purchase limit. To sum up: Kroger has decided to limit my ability to purchase goods by forcing me to process my transaction through their preferred payment method, not mine. As a result, I will go to another grocery store for general goods and elsewhere for my specialty or organic product needs. Kroger's selection of the latter was piss-poor at any rate.

Date: Apr 4, 2016

There have been customers at my store that have left their groceries because of not being able to run their cards as credit; some of which have been very vocal about not shopping at Kroger anymore.

I'm totally okay with that. Less customers in the store, less stress put on those of us that are drowning due to corporate's greed and stinginess when it comes to staffing.

Date: Apr 5, 2016

I walked out as well. Nobody gets my PIN, especially the way hackers are today.

Date: Apr 11, 2016

The point here is the bank card is debit/credit. we have the option to use it how we like, except at Kroger. That is the point of this entire post. Kroger says use it only as debit. I and many others say BullSh-t to Kroger. if I want to use my bank card as a credit I have the option to do so. Kroger cant tell me how to use it. We will all just shop somewhere else and the hell with Kroger.

Date: Apr 11, 2016

leads to unemployment.

Date: Apr 15, 2016

I have used my Chase bank card w/chip at NUMEROUS stores and was NEVER asked to use my pin. Until I went to Kroger. It is certainly a Kroger thing. They are trying to avoid the credit fees a business must pay when accepting CREDIT. The choice belongs to the consumer, not the vendor. Bye Bye Kroger.

Date: Apr 15, 2016

I just did that today. byeBye Kroger. Another shopper next to me said she was done too. I hope Kroger is enjoying all the money they are saving by no longer taking credit! It won't compare to the loss of customers. Once a place does me like that I don't go back. Too many other stores to choose from.

Date: Apr 15, 2016

Nope. I have only a Bank Card and have used it numerous places w/o using a pin. Even the Farmers Market for Petes sake. No worries, I'll just go back to using good ol greenBacks. Less hastle and less Big Brother. Good Day to you as well.

Date: Apr 15, 2016

Maybe now customers will begin to see what employees have seen for years now - Kroger is run by a very greedy bunch of corporate penny pinchers that care only about how they can further enrich themselves and to hell with everyone else, customers and employees alike. There is NOTHING "Customer 1st" about Kroger's so-called "Customer 1st" policies and this yet another example of putting the BOTTOM LINE and corporate profits FIRST above anything and everything else.

Date: Apr 16, 2016

Kroger needs to wake to who is boss here. It is not Kroger, they should know there are other grocery stores who do not require such CRAP!

Date: Apr 18, 2016

This move by Kroger is timed perfectly with the opening of a new Wegman's in my area. I'll be taking my business elsewhere thanks to Kroger compromising my security by requiring my pin.

Date: Apr 19, 2016

You are incorrect. I can use my chip enabled debit card as credit everywhere else with the exception of krogers.

Date: Apr 23, 2016

Hate to bust it to you but every company will require you to use your pin with debit cards with a chip. Kroger is just doing now so they don't have to retrain customers and employees.

Date: Apr 25, 2016

Your are wrong, you can use a checkcard either way, credit and debit. Not just one or the other.

Loungen-X · Newbie

I do think this is just a preview of what's to come across all retailers in the future (enforcement of PIN only when debit card detected, then eventually credit card) for higher security efforts as fraud responsibility gets pushed to the retailers, studies of europe success blah blah then... before we know it the credit cards will be the same way too or they'd somehow be responsible for fraud too. But for Kroger perhaps enforcing this early may hurt them in the short run, might've been smarter to wait until it became more common because we all know that negative experiences carry greater weight and it can be hard eliminating a bad taste from a person's mouth. They were the first place I'd been to and actually still are every time I want to use my debit card as credit I forget that I can't! aaargh pretty annoying, compromised pin really freaks me out too and many knowing it's tied ATM & bank account - how can you blame us after all those retailer news story of compromised Pins! The first time I experienced the forced Debit Pin at Kroger it had me in an insanity payment loop wondering did I just not select the credit option for my debit or wait I can't - what the?, then said screw this and immediately popped in my credit card instead. When the light bulb went off I thought you sneaky bastards found a way to evade credit card transaction fees knowing everyone loves the convenience of a debit card... but hey I'm sure they'll pass on the savings to all who deserve it, right? I wouldn't be surprised they've already got it figured out the transaction fee savings are great enough to absorb all sales losses and loss of Customer satisfaction, no costs of staff retrain later just do it now and reduce transaction costs!

-- Edited by Loungen-X on Monday 25th of April 2016 04:46:06 PM

Date: Apr 28, 2016

It's causing hell with the elderly (especially on senior day), but it is occasionally entertaining.

It does run off the tweakers with stolen cards. It's pretty funny to watch them standing there with a big handful of gift cards when they realize their stolen card won't work.

Date: Apr 28, 2016

not true. I have a debit/credit card that accesses my checking account and I can run a transaction as credit (no pin) or debit (with pin). As with the new chip cards, at Kroger, I can only now use debit. At Home Depot, I can use credit, just hit enter when it asks for the pin and it will go to credit.

Date: Apr 29, 2016

Precisely...Kroger (King Soopers here in Colorado) is still the only place I've encountered this so far. It's as you say, whether it's home depot, walmart and target I've visited a couple times recently, all chip-ready too they still allow you to use credit option of a bank debit card with no pin.

Date: Apr 30, 2016

It's illegal!

How is Kroger allowed to remove our options?

I have an agreement with my bank on how my funds will be covered-NOT KROGER

Using your card as a credit gives you 1 additional business day to be sure the funds are available before they slap you with a $34 overdraft fee... I worked for Chase Bank for many years, I know the routine.

Use as a debit-$34 fee automatically if you don't have the funds In that account.

Has everyone forgotten that this^^is precisely the reason the cards have "visa" and "MasterCard" on them?

Because it's supposed to be our "option?"

Date: May 1, 2016

No true - only Krogers. Use my debit card as a credit card across the US as a credit card. Never - never run into this anywhere else other than Krogers. Stop the BS. This is to save on credit card fees. On debit cards, the financial institution pays the fee - on credit cards, the merchant (Krogers) pays the fees.

Date: May 1, 2016

Yes - PIN is more secure (used in Europe vs using a signature), but as a consumer, I have enough take it or leave it options in my life. With groceries - I do have choices for other people that sell groceries. I don't like being told I can't use my card as credit and don't want to use it as debit. Plan to walk across the street to their competition over this one issue. What a pain.

Date: May 2, 2016

You guys are ****ing dumbasses.

Everyone is going to start using this, just to be more secure for YOUR BENEFIT. you want added sercurity? then you'll lose about, maybe 30 seconds a transaction. That's not good enough? How impatient can you ****s be that you won't use a PIN, would you go to the bank and ask for money out of your account, and be shocked if they didn't ask you for any verification that it is your account at ALL?

you're ****ing morons. First of all: this forum is for EMPLOYEES. Not for customers, if you want to complain I can promise you this is the LAST place Kroger management or coporate will look.

Second of all, yes, writher in your ability to leave 2 carts or 1 full, huge cart in the store without paying. Make the cashiers life a living hell, by having to find someone just to void off the entire transaction, while their line is growing more and more because of YOUR big order (don't even get me STARTED if you're in an express lane, you can go straight to hell). The 2-4 people who have to get off a register and doing their jobs serving customers, to sort through all of YOUR bags, to find perishiables to go back ASAP before they spoil. And then the 2-4 people that will spend their entire shift putting all of your **** back because you want to be a ****ing baby and complain about entering in some goddamn numbers, that i'm sure you find the ability to type on amazon.com, even though it's FAR more likely for Amazon to be hacked and have their data breached than a grocery store.

Go straight to hell you idiots.

ProduceDumbass · Veteran Member

Anonymous wrote:
amazon.com, even though it's FAR more likely for Amazon to be hacked and have their data breached than a grocery store.

Hey, be fair, it's not your PIN you verify with online, it's the CVC printed on the card!

Seriously though people being upset over having to use their PIN are stupid.

Date: May 2, 2016

You're right, but it's still the entire card number and the three digit code on the back that has to be verified before you can purchase something. If someone were to hack amazon, it would be a nightmare. Largest online merchant with millions of customers worldwide, they could get lots and lots of money compared to Kroger.

It just irked me SO much that customers are here on our forum bragging about it and leaving groceries acting like it actually is going to change something. The real person who gets hurt here isn't the company, it's the employees who have to waste time and effort into you leaving everything behind in protest. They have to deal with the aftermath, corporate doesn't.

I've had people leave and get nasty with me because of it, meanwhile my bank hasn't even sent me a debit card with a chip in it yet. Who gets a debit card and doesn't immediately set up a PIN? You need a PIN to access an ATM, you HAVE to set one up so the people saying this are full of it.

Then there are the ones that got the card and just don't want to activate it. I'm sorry, but if you're going to use it to PAY for things, you're going to have to set up a PIN number or don't use that ****ing card!

The conspiracy theoriests are the best, stating the government can have access to their pin (when, in reality they could issue a warrent and get it legally pretty quickly), or that people try to hack into the system and somehow hi-jack their information, which is extremely hard to accomplish.

the only decent ones are the ones that use it while complaining about how long it takes or how complicated it is. I understand older people not wanting to learn something new when they do it a certain way their entire life and are just used to it? (ok, not entire, but a long time). Also the ones that complain that it takes way longer than just swiping, which I agree with, is annoying. And the confusing screens that start with "cash back" first, then amount ok, THEN the PIN. But that's a dumb software error.

It's just so annoying to see entitled people bragging about leaving their entire carts at a store, thinking it accomplishes something. Because when they go to the competition, sometime very soon, their new "favorite" alternative to piss you off is going to install the same chip software, until it's everywhere.

So who's the real winner here?

Date: May 8, 2016

I was just at my local kroger and they told me I had to use a pin in order to finish checking out and I don't have one. luckily I had cash on me or I would have had to leave without my stuff. I hate this stupid chip reader crap

Date: May 14, 2016

thats not true i have used my bank card with a chip as a credit card at a lot of places. the merchants choose to set it up this way to avoid transaction fees

Date: May 16, 2016

Danielle your missing the issue. If you have a chip card when using it at Kroger it forces you to process the transaction as Debit even if you don't want to, which is unreasonabe and unfair to the customer. I don't have this issue other places except Kroger