CharlieCard / Ticket discussion

[deathtopumpkins]

Maybe that's what happens if you lose a CharlieCard and get a replacement - they deactivate the old one just in case someone finds it?

[diburning]

Yes, if the charlie card is registered on MyCharlie, and is reported lost, the serial number is blacklisted and cannot be used or reloaded.

[sonicdoommario]

Was something changed within the past month? The last few times I've been up to Boston, no machine (I've tried Back Bay, South Station, and Wellington), seems to take my debit card anymore to refill my Charlie Chard. It bounces back with a "Bank card type not supported" message or something. Has anyone else run into this?

[Backshophoss]

With the changeover to "Chipped" cards,the onboard reader can not read whats on the magnetic stripe now.
The card readers and software need to updated for "Chip" cards.

[Disney Guy]

But chip credit cards still work in gas pumps and store cashier stands that still use swipe-only. (I don't have a debit card.)

[Backshophoss]

The "given" is the "T" systems are at least a few generations/system upgrades behind most retailer's card systems.
They really need to work with ALL "Chipped" cards,credit/debit,or loose $$$$ in the long run.

[Echo33d]

I have a chip card, and it works perfectly fine when I swipe it at the T fare vending machines. Chip cards still have the exact same magnetic stripe they used to have before, and should work fine with non-chip machines.

[sonicdoommario]

I figured it might have had something to do with the chip debit cards. I have a Bank of America debit card, if that helps.

[chrisf]

I figured it might have had something to do with the chip debit cards. I have a Bank of America debit card, if that helps.

It has nothing to do with chip cards- the magnetic strip is the same as it ever was to ensure compatibility with older card reading machines. My BofA debit card (with a chip) works fine in Charliecard machines. It's more likely that there's a problem with your particular card's strip if it doesn't work in any of the machines but you might try running it as both credit and debit to see if it works the other way from which you've previously tried.

[Backshophoss]

There have been some issues on the 1st generation chip cards,more than 1 bank has had to do a reissue of their cards due
to some minor defect back at the factory to the chip or mag stripe.
Best way to check for mag stripe damage is to have it checked at any BoA branch that has a reader/programmer for changing pin #'s.

There's now a new type of card scanner(card skimmer) that somehow installed INSIDE the machine,mostly at "pay at the pump" type readers.
and some of the independent(not bank owned)ATM's. This problem has local PD's asking everybody to go to the cashier instead
of using the pump's reader until all the scanners(card skimmers) are found and removed .

[sonicdoommario]

Hm, I believe my debit card was issued to me in summer 2015, maybe 2014. Would that be the first generation of chip cards? Could I take it to a bank to have it replaced?

Outside of the MBTA vending machines, the only issue I've ever had with it is the Cumby's down the street where the reader keeps rejecting my card, and then I hand it off to the cashier to swipe.

[diburning]

If it's a Bank of America card, there was a problem with the alignment of the chip on the first (few?) batch of those cards.

The "first generation" of chip cards was actually a long time ago, probably the early 2000s when Target decided to put them in their credit cards, at the time when Europe was adopting them. For us here in the US, we didn't officially adopt them until October 2015 when the payment card industry adopted a liability shift.

But, on an MBTA machine, it should not matter as it does not use the chip, and would therefore be swipe only.

[deathtopumpkins]

The issue isn't the cards - it's the crummy readers on the T fare machines. I don't think they've EVER once read ANY of my cards correctly on the first swipe. Usually it takes 3-4 attempts (which is annoying, because the machine automatically cancels the transaction after the 2nd or 3rd error). In the past it was always "BANK CARD NOT READABLE", recently I've sometimes gotten "BANK CARD TYPE NOT SUPPORTED" as well.

[sery2831]

There has always been an issue with debit cards at the machines. Select credit and should work on the first or second try.

[deathtopumpkins]

Nope, my experience has always been with credit cards. I never use debit.