# Use of Canadian Debit Cards in New York City Taxis **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561 "2014-05-03T03:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/1 "2014-05-03T03:30:24Z")
My 16 year old daughter is going on a three day school trip to NYC on Monday. She asked me if she could use her bank card for taxi services. I have no idea. The direct payment system in Canada is called Interac, and I’ve used my card in the US, UK, the Phillipines, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc. so I’m pretty sure access to funds isn’t an issue, but what do taxis accept in NYC? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/2 "2014-05-03T03:46:57Z")
Is it a chipped card? I’ve had mixed results - they are often setup for Visa Debit, but not always Interac ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/3 "2014-05-03T03:59:54Z")
Yep. Chipped card. Come to think of it, I’ve only once or twice used my “new” chip card abroad. Should that matter? It still has the magnetic stripe. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/4 "2014-05-03T05:56:08Z")
It still has the stripe, so that’s not a problem. If it’s a pure Interac card, though, it will only work on the NYCE debit network in the States. Some Canadian debit cards are also Visa or MasterCard, though. These will work outside Canada on the Visa or MasterCard networks. What I don’t know is whether they’re online or offline debit. Online debit is like the normal Interac debit; the transaction is verified and debited while you wait. Offline debit works like traditional old-style credit cards: you may be approved immediately, but the transaction does not show up in your account until some time later. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/5 "2014-05-03T07:24:02Z")
If it’s not Visa or MC linked it won’t. She can take out money at any bank machine but in my experience there is no way to use a straight Debit card at a merchant in the US (including taxi’s) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/6 "2014-05-03T07:40:28Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Is it a chipped card? I’ve had mixed results - they are often setup for Visa Debit, but not always Interac Most (dare I say all ?How would I know? ) Canadian ABM/Eftpos cards are also linked to PLUS or Cirrus, or other networks with more global reach…Timbuktu, you are worried there is no ATM at all… basically if you expect there is an ATM… it will be PLUS or CIRRUS capable. NYCE is an ATM network… not an eftpos network. The choice of ATM networks is then more about the cost of the ATM service… eg INTERAC banks have negotiated with NYCE to get the INTERAC card treated as a friend. (eg so that the transaction is charged to the card’s bank… so that the bank can give free ATM transactions even when using a USA ATM … ) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/7 "2014-05-03T12:18:02Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > If it’s not Visa or MC linked it won’t. She can take out money at any bank machine but in my experience there is no way to use a straight Debit card at a merchant in the US (including taxi’s) I’m pretty sure I used my card at a shoe store, a grocer, and a liquor store in Michigan last fall. I don’t recall taking out cash in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/8 "2014-05-03T12:35:34Z")
Some stores in border towns with a lot of Canadians coming through have separate machines that can take our debit cards but in NY I would not expect to be able to use the card and would plan on using ATMs. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-canadian-debit-cards-in-new-york-city-taxis/687561/9 "2014-05-03T23:32:40Z")
The only bad experience I’ve had are gas stations and the NYC subway that will accept a CC only if you can tie it to a US zip code. I guess it would be same with DCs. I just looked at my bank cards and only the US cards are also Visa/MC linked. I know taxis in NYC take CCs but I have never used one there.