Kroger now forces debit cards to use their pins

Date: May 16, 2016

RE: Kroger now forces debit cards to use their pins

Date: May 24, 2016

There are definite security benefits to chip cards, but these companies are very capable of letting us use these cards as credit transactions. Whether it makes you use a signature or PIN, the issue I have is that it forces a debit transaction. Personally my bank allows me to get 2% interest rates on the money in my checking account if I satisfy a few conditions. One condition being that I use at least $500 worth of credit transactions with my debit card per month. This interest rate can add up to $$$ over an entire year. So until Kroger allows credit transactions with chip debit cards, I'll have to shop elsewhere.. And it sucks since Kroger is so conveniently located.

Phew, just had to get that written out.. it's been bugging me recently.

Date: Jun 10, 2016

If you think corporate managers don't read a forum for their employees, then you are the Dumnass.

in fact, it's the first place they look.

And yes, to those poor overworked souls who have to spend their time putting away someone's groceries because they refuse to enter a pin, I do feel sorry for you. But that does hurt corporate. Because they have to spend that time, management WILL take notice. They have to hire more people to keep up with the customer issues, which costs money, which does make this CHOICE (elimination of credit option on debit cards) a negative to the company.

And, it violates VISAs terms of use.

Check out the lawsuit by walmart when they tried to do the same thing.

4hourrush · Guru

Anonymous wrote:
If you think corporate managers don't read a forum for their employees, then you are the Dumnass.
in fact, it's the first place they look.

And yes, to those poor overworked souls who have to spend their time putting away someone's groceries because they refuse to enter a pin, I do feel sorry for you. But that does hurt corporate. Because they have to spend that time, management WILL take notice. They have to hire more people to keep up with the customer issues, which costs money, which does make this CHOICE (elimination of credit option on debit cards) a negative to the company.
And, it violates VISAs terms of use.
Check out the lawsuit by walmart when they tried to do the same thing.

They have to hire more people to keep up with the customer issues... They have to hire more people to keep up with the customer issues... They have to hire more people to keep up with the customer issues??

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL, YOU'RE FUNNY.

Date: Jun 12, 2016

Anonymous wrote:
If you think corporate managers don't read a forum for their employees, then you are the Dumnass.
in fact, it's the first place they look.

This isn't an official Kroger forum designated for employees.

Even if some people at corporate/some managers situated at a corporate/regional/division/district/store level are aware of this forum, do you honestly think they care in the slightest? Uh, try "no". They probably get a good laugh at reading just how miserable the employees that post here are before going back to happily staring at their bank accounts.

Date: Jun 12, 2016

I actually like the policy. Now I can take my Kroger ad and go to other stores and have them happily match the Kroger price and not force me to use a PIN. Kroger is lining their pockets with extra profit from forcing debits over credits. its about time we all go to Kroger and fill our carts with ice cream and other perishable goods and not be able to pay because we don't know what our PIN is. Fire with fire.

Date: Jun 13, 2016

Sorry but that is not true. It is the vendor's software that is requiring the pin under the guise of customer fraud protection. What it boils down to is that pin based transaction carry a much less expensive flat fee instead of the percentage associated with credit cards. What these big companies are not telling you is that is puts consumers at a greater risk for fraud by exposing their pin. If it is pin based transaction, you are longer covered under Visa liability program. It falls back to your bank's policies which do not offer near the protection of Visa. To save a few pennies per transaction, your retailers are putting their customers at a greater financial risk.

Date: Jul 8, 2016

You're not reading the comments correctly.....the people who are complaining do NOT have a debit-only card....they have a debit + credit card, which entitles them to use it either way, as a credit or debit. I agree totally with the customers here who are complaining that you can't run your debit/credit bankcard at Kroger's as a CREDIT...I've tried, and after I insert my debit/credit chip card into the slot I get a screen that says "How much cash back do I want?" I select $0, then it wants me to enter a PIN. I've never done that, and cancelled the transaction at that point.

I know, in Europe, that if you have a debit/credit card, you still have to enter a PIN first, then it takes you to a screen where you can select DEBIT or CREDIT. Has anyone, at Kroger's, tried entering a PIN and seeing if you get that option? Next time I'm there I'll try it. If it doesn't give me a credit option, I'm shopping elsewhere. I've complained to the main Kroger's office, at their headquarters....they told me they had no plans to change things in the future. I told them bye.

Date: Jul 8, 2016

I did some more research, and went directly to the Kroger web site:

https://www.kroger.com/topic/checking-out-with-your-chip-enabled-card

Underneath the subheading "What's changing?" it says:

Debit:

"You can no longer run your debit card as credit. Youll now be required to use your secure PIN to verify your transaction."

So there you have it....Kroger won't run debit/credit cards as a credit anymore. I'm done with them. My bank rewards me for using my bankcard as a credit card, so I'll be going to Albertson's.

Date: Jul 10, 2016

I wanted to post this also....there is a way around the credit/debit debacle at Kroger's...

The cashier at the Smith's liquor store (part of Kroger's) where I lived showed me a trick - you put the card in the chip reader, but don't insert it fully, just most of the way. You'll get a "CARD READ MALFUNCTION" notice, and it will tell you to reinsert the card. If you do this 3 times in a row, you finally get a message that says "CARD READ ERROR - USE SWIPE TO COMPLETE TRANSACTION", or something to that effect. You then swipe the card and voila - you are presented with a choice of processing the transaction with debit or credit, just like before.

I don't know, if you continually do this, if your banking institution will lock the card after, say, 12 times of malfunctions. My credit union thought that might happen, but they weren't sure. I'm going to keep doing it this way until my card gets locked out...if it eventually does, I'll stop shopping there for sure. I may stop shopping there anyway, they're really pissing me off with this anti-customer behavior.

Date: Jul 23, 2016

Same thing happened to me yesterday. I have a buggy full of groceries and went to use credit on my new chip card. Would not work. Cashier said this happens all the time. Manager comes down and said oh yes we take credit on chip cards. She swiped it and said my bank is not letting credit go through. Furious because everyone is watching this, I left and called my bank. They told me they did not deny credit to go to internet and read about Kroger not letting customers use chip cards without pin numbers. I was shocked. They had lied to me in front of everyone. A long time customer is now going to shop at Publix who values their customers. It seems Kroger wants you to use their new Mastercard offered on line. That is the bottom line to this whole thing. Shame on Kroger.

Date: Jul 23, 2016

Why not just tell the truth to customers instead of the tactic that your bank will not let it go through. Post a sign for customers. Let them know it is for their safety. Don't lie and embarrass them in line.

Date: Aug 1, 2016

As an addendum to what I've posted previously, I recently found out that, if you do swipe your card now, ANYWHERE, and run it as a credit that you are responsible for any fraudulent charges that may appear. This is a federal ruling, and came about because of the chip card readers. Basically, it is saying that if a store doesn't have chip card technology by now, swiping the card as a credit transaction puts the onus on the consumer. So, if you were to follow my suggestion of inserting the card 3 times in the chip slot so it malfunctions, then swiping it, you would not be protected against fraud. Same thing applies if you go to another store that doesn't have chip technology installed yet....from my understanding, you would still be on the hook for fraudulent charges if you swipe the card. Doesn't seem fair, if the merchant doesn't have a chip reader - but, this is the society we live in now. Pass the buck. In any case, it still doesn't excuse Kroger, or Walgreens, or any other merchant that has chip card technology, from forcing you to run your purchase as a debit (i.e., PIN number) instead of a credit, if you have a debit/credit bankcard.

Date: Aug 4, 2016

U can use ur chip at Walgreens as credit, you have to hit the yellow button, I do it all the time, but their clerks don't know if you ask them

Date: Sep 4, 2016

BULL****! I run my my chip enabled card at several major retailers and still have the credit option. Kroger is trying to save themselves the 3.5% credit processing fee, so now I will shop at Meijer. Way to go Kroger, you just lost 20k a year in receipts.

Date: Oct 7, 2016

Just what I thought, all about The money.

Date: Oct 7, 2016

When they lose enough customers to tip the scales as losing too much money, they will change back. All about the $$$$$$$.

Date: Nov 1, 2016

I called Kroger corporate office and they basically told me that if I had a PIN enabled debit card I had to use it. Simply because they said they lose money with customers using the credit feature. There has been a way to override that feature. The cashier did something like cancel the transaction three times,did a few other things and it worked. Do you know how to make it work? Thanks.

Brian

Date: Nov 5, 2016

Anonymous wrote:
I forgot they didn't take Debit as credit. I have been trying for a couple of weeks at different Ralphs. ALL other major merchants want you to use POS and push the PIN box in front of selection. This is fine... BUT, if you either don't know your pin or have forgotten it, you MUST have an option to select Credit. Also, if you want to DELAY the actual charged because, you get paid the next day... you should be allowed to choose Credit. Geez. Add a flipping fee if you need to. I generally get LESS cash, and this wouldn't matter. But my Credit Union has added REWARDS to Debit Cards and DOUBLE POINTS for GROCERY. I have to choose credit for this option. The Clerks were honest about the extra fees merchants might have to pay for Credit, and that they have no option, other than if you DO it wrong 3 times, you can use the MAGSTRIPE, but not every rep knows that. I have no problem with forcing the PIN box, I have a problem with being UNABLE to opt to use the Credit function of the Debit card. Now ... i either shop elsewhere, force me into getting a Credit Card with the CU, ETC. Their cost for Credit VS DEBIT is the same.. they could loose some loyal customers since REWARDS are everywhere.

Lana

Date: Dec 13, 2016

It is just Kroger because I don't have that problem anywhere else

Date: Nov 13, 2017

As long as the sign outside says we take MasterCard and not we take MasterCard Debit (it's an option; some stores that disagree with MasterCard's merchant agreement, like Family Dollar or Dollar General, don't accept MasterCard as a credit card & their sign doesn't say we take MasterCard; it says we take MasterCard Debit) then they are committing fraud by refusing to honor a card that they have an agreement with MasterCard to take. I would suggest that you ask for a manager, hand them the cart full of perishable items, tell the competitor you're leaving to go to instead, explain why you're leaving, and let them know that you're reporting them to MasterCard for fraudulently advertising that they accept MasterCard when they really only take MasterCard Debit once you get home. If you're in Texas, also let them know that you're gonna be reporting them for violating the TDTPA (Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act). Then once you get home from the competitor, actually report them to all of those.

Date: Nov 13, 2017

Anonymous wrote:
Kroger just did themselves in. they enabled the chip readers on their POS terminals. At the same time they forced chip enabled debit cards to provide their pins, the credit option was no longer available. I'm seeing major pushback from the customers with whole carts being abandoned.
I don't know about you, but I barely trust my bank to keep my pin safe; I certainly don't trust Kroger, HEB, Home Depot or anybody else to keep my pin safe. This policy is based on greed. It costs .25 cents to process a debit transaction and 3.5% to process a credit transaction, the dollar signs in their eyes got the better of them. I think this policy will be short lived.

That is the purpose of the chip. To help make it more secure. Using a pin is more secure than pushing credit, because guess what? Anyone can get your card bypass the pin push credit, and go crazy with another persons money. Then you'll seear it's your banks fault and they did not found enough to protect you.people which complain about using their pins are idiots. Only place you don't enter your pun is online, but something tells me people that complain about using their pins in the store, have no problem entering it online in unsecure websites.9

Date: Nov 13, 2017

VK wrote:
I did some more research, and went directly to the Kroger web site:
https://www.kroger.com/topic/checking-out-with-your-chip-enabled-card
Underneath the subheading "What's changing?" it says:
Debit:
"You can no longer run your debit card as credit. Youll now be required to use your secure PIN to verify your transaction."
So there you have it....Kroger won't run debit/credit cards as a credit anymore. I'm done with them. My bank rewards me for using my bankcard as a credit card, so I'll be going to Albertson's.

If you're going to use it as credit, then just get s credit card with rewards. It's not that complicated. Or maybe your credit is terrible see o you can't do that. Not Kroger's problem. Go to Albertsons, Kroger has enough stupid customers anyway.

Date: Nov 13, 2017

Anonymous wrote:
I wanted to post this also....there is a way around the credit/debit debacle at Kroger's...
The cashier at the Smith's liquor store (part of Kroger's) where I lived showed me a trick - you put the card in the chip reader, but don't insert it fully, just most of the way. You'll get a "CARD READ MALFUNCTION" notice, and it will tell you to reinsert the card. If you do this 3 times in a row, you finally get a message that says "CARD READ ERROR - USE SWIPE TO COMPLETE TRANSACTION", or something to that effect. You then swipe the card and voila - you are presented with a choice of processing the transaction with debit or credit, just like before.
I don't know, if you continually do this, if your banking institution will lock the card after, say, 12 times of malfunctions. My credit union thought that might happen, but they weren't sure. I'm going to keep doing it this way until my card gets locked out...if it eventually does, I'll stop shopping there for sure. I may stop shopping there anyway, they're really pissing me off with this anti-customer behavior.

This site is for employees not customers. If you have a problem with Kroger call them directly, don't complain on here. That is not what this site is for.

Date: Feb 16, 2018

You're wrong. It is just Kroger. And here we are in 2018 and it's still just Kroger.

Date: Apr 4, 2018

IDK Why your having an issue I use my debit card places and some require me to enter a pin and some do not however everyplace I have been forced to use my pin which I could card less about it still goes through as credit and does not come out as debit so idk what the deal is. Besides facts are facts Id before even credit cards to require this as well it saves you if you lose your card from someone else using it. Also idk why it matters its coming from the same account anyways and also if it has the chip no one will know your pin number unless your out telling everone

Date: Apr 4, 2018

Would you rather have a choice and pay more for everything or let them use the pin and save money and pass the savings or just charge you if youd rather run oyur card the other way which some places are doing

Date: Apr 30, 2018

Since getting my first chip card over two years ago, my chipped debit card has been compromised 5 times. Yes, you read that right. I have had to replace my debit card 5 times. And I believe it has something to do specifically with King Soopers' (Kroger's) terminal systems along with the fact that, at least at the locations nearest me, I am required to enter my pin with every purchase.

I even tested my theory. With the 4th card which I received in July 2017, I decided not use it at King Soopers for at least six months and I used my credit card instead. But I did use my debit card in many other locations, as well as online. None of the other retail and/or gas station locations required a pin and I was given the option to select Credit instead (which of course I did). I should note that I also have a chipped credit card from the same financial institution (a credit union), and that card has never compromised (at least not yet).

Fast forward 7 months from receiving my 4th card. I decided that since I hadn't experienced any fraudulent activity, I would try using it again at King Soopers. I started using it intermittently starting in Jan. 2018. Three months later I got the (expected) call from the fraud department of my credit union reporting suspicious activity on my debit card. Someone attempted to make two withdrawals of $200+ each in Plano, Texas. I live in Colorado and was in my home with my debit card 'safely' tucked away in my purse when I got the call. Obviously the thieves not only had my debit card number but they also had my pin. And the only placed where I've been forced to enter my pin has been King Soopers. I don't think its too far of a stretch to believe this is not a coincidence.

I did a bit more research, tracing to Jan to determine how many transactions I had made with King Soopers vs how many transactions I had done using my debit card where no pin was required. The ratio was disturbingly high on the King Soopers side. And to me it only makes sense that there is something going on with King Soopers' terminals that is allowing debit card/pin info to be fraudulently captured. I will be doing more research to determine if I am an isolated case but my guess is I will find I am not.

GreyKnitHat · Senior Member

If you have a visa, just press enter where it asks for your pin snd you can skip it.

Date: Apr 30, 2018

I have a mastercard and there is no option to override. There are many other stores that do have that as an option, and I've even asked King Sooper's management why their terminals aren't programmed that way. They said it has to do with the issuing bank and not their terminals. But I've already talked to my credit union (on several occasions actually) and they said King Soopers is incorrect. Banks do not determine how retailers program their terminals.

Date: Dec 15, 2018

You are incorrect! Kroger is the only one. Walmart was doing the same thing and they figured it was more important to keep the customer so they set up their card readers to give customers the option of selecting sign for the items and once you select that it will process the transaction without a signature if the amount is not large and you are a regular customer or allow a signature.

Date: Feb 26, 2019

I wasted an hour shopping at Krogers filling up my cart tonight ... only to be dead stopped at the check out trying to use my chip mastercard ... kept asking for a pin that i dont have never had and never needed anywhere else before and used this credit card for over 5 years now .... so i walked out leaving a cart full ... i hope the hour they wasted of my time and the hour they had to pay an employ to put all the groceries back was worth it ... i will not go back there until they fix there credit card terminals ... and open BACK UP some of the REAL person to person check out lines

thanks for NOTHING Krogers !

Mr Frontenac · Guru

Anonymous wrote:
I wasted an hour shopping at Krogers filling up my cart tonight ... only to be dead stopped at the check out trying to use my chip mastercard ... i hope the hour they wasted of my time and the hour they had to pay an employ to put all the groceries back was worth it ... i will not go back there until they fix there credit card terminals ...

You'll be back. They always come back.

ProduceSmartass · Veteran Member

Learn your debit card's PIN, stop complaining when you don't know your own financial information.

And it's definitely a debit card, even if you normally run it as "credit" (a misnomer, it's what's more technically called an "offline" transaction, run through the credit network with a hold being placed on the funds which clears in a day or two rather than the funds immediately transferring). Kroger's terminals let credit cards run either with no authorization/authentication for smaller transactions or require a signature.

Date: Jan 22, 2022

I have bank chip debit cards one from one bank and another from another bank. Kroger allows one the choice credit or pin option. The other bank pin only. Double stander not right.

Date: Jan 24, 2022

That's good and bad. I know a lot of people who just run it as credit and never bothered to memorize their pin. Just means we'll get that pissy customer that can't pay for their food when they try to run it as credit. I mean it's not that difficult to memorize a 4 digit number. Most people use a mix of their family's b-dates.