For the past two weeks, this column has discussed the use of Bermuda-issued credit cards outside the Island. Bermuda cards lack a computer chip and the required pin number to approve their use. They are not required, but are often wrongly demanded by retailers and banks.

The issue prompted an enormous mailbag. The responses fell into four categories: useful advice; criticism of my naiveté; problems in the UK; and comments about other countries. I'll throw in some personal thoughts at the end of this column.

Useful advice: As I mentioned last week, a reader supplied a link to the official UK retailers' guide on accepting credit cards. Download it and keep a copy with your card if you travel to the UK: http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/reflib/Retailer_Post_14_Feb_FINAL.PDF. If you have trouble downloading it, let me know (crombie@northrock.bm). I'll e-mail you a copy. A reader suggested searching YouTube for videos on Chip and Pin and the Banking Code. I'm on dial-up, so YouTube is but a dream for me, but if you visit and find anything interesting, let me know, and I'll pass it on.

My ignorance: Also in the helpful category was a series of e-mails about my habit of drawing cash at a bank on my MasterCard. Typical responses: "Why are you using a credit card to get a cash advance? That has to be the most expensive way to get cash. Use your debit card at an ATM machine and you can get cash for something like $2.50 plus the haircut on the foreign exchange (FX). Much cheaper than $5 plus 25 percent interest on a cash advance.

"And if you use a Capital G card they reimburse the $2.50 fee (but probably scalp it back on the FX). Retailers that ask for a chip or other ID, as they do more and more in Bermuda, can do without my business. They take the card or I leave the items on the counter and they can put them back."

And, from another reader: "You say you attempted to take cash out of NatWest using a credit card. In my book, this is almost the number one No-No, as the bank simply starts their exorbitant interest rate clock running from the moment you get the dosh in your hot little hands until you pay back the balance." ("Dosh" means moolah, or simoleons.)

I should have pointed out that I put money into my credit card account before leaving Bermuda (i.e they owe me), so no interest applies until I have spent all my own money and then start using the bank's, which I try not to do.

The bank knows about this, and has no objection, probably because they earn a fee anyway whenever I use the card. Don't misunderstand any of this as a criticism of the Bermuda banks. I love my credit card. Deeply. It's my most important relationship. One day, when the local banks issue chip and pin cards, my love will be like a red, red rose with a chip in it.

Now an admission of ignorance on my part, the first ever (and probably the last): I didn't know one could use one's debit card overseas. I didn't think I had a pin number on my debit card, which I only use for moving money into and out of the wall.

I mentioned this in correspondence with a reader, who replied: "Don't know how you got a debit card without a pin number. I thought that was required to activate it. They work anywhere Visa or MC works.

"Use a swipe machine so that the card never leaves your hand. That way it can't get stuck in the machine. They're great - you never have to meet a banker to get cash!"

UK problems: For space reasons, I have to truncate most of these responses, but you'll get the gist.

A reader wrote: "We were entertaining two other couples to dinner and our Butterfield MasterCard was not accepted by the 'machine' because of the lack of the chip and pin. I only had £40 in cash on me - thus the other two gentlemen present chipped in (no pun intended) to assist with the payment. Earlier that day we had used the same card with no bother at a shoe shop."

From another reader: "A couple of years back, after a slap-up Indian feast with plenty of libation up Brick Lane in our fair capital, myself and a friend tried to pay with my Easylink. No go. Because the card wasn't chip and pin, our former colonial cousins wouldn't accept it.

"My friend worked in the credit card processing industry and was adamant that because they displayed the Visa sign on the door, they had to honour the card regardless. We played dumb and said we had no cash or other form of payment. The manager duly came over, produced the same machine and glibly said our cards wouldn't work without chip and pin.

"So my mate took the machine off him, pointed at the swipey bit on the side, swiped my card, put the numbers in and printed the ticket off. I signed it and we walked out. Done deal.

"I think the problem stems from the fact that the merchant pays a slightly larger percentage to the processor for non-chip and pin transactions because of the potential risk of the transaction."

Another reader wrote: "I have had a couple of problems with credit cards in the UK. Some stores will only take debit cards, presumably because the bank commission is lower. I had offered to buy groceries for a family dinner but both my Visa and MasterCard were refused and my Butterfield debit card does not have a chip, so my mother had to use her debit card. If she had not been with me, I would have had to leave the groceries behind."

This from another reader: "Some of the cashiers at large supermarkets in England claim it must be chip and pin, until I have to show them (otherwise). However, it is becoming more difficult and certain restaurants will only accept chip and pin. I have a chip and pin Barclaycard because of this problem."

News of other countries: A non-local reader (I assume) wrote of being turned down: "(It) happened to us in December when travelling via a cruise liner. My husband went to get a cash advance in Gibraltar and was fortunate that he had just before leaving home been furnished with a new Visa with a chip. We were certainly grateful to have that card."

Another wrote, more up-beatly (if there is such a word): "I had no problems using MasterCard in New Zealand this year. I just pressed 'Enter' on card readers without entering a number and also withdrew money from an ATM over there. It seems that NZ is ahead of everyone else and accepts any card."

Another, presumably Canadian, reader wrote: "Swiping Visa and MasterCards instead of signing is now happening in Canada. I recently was advised of this and was sent a new Visa card. It has the same numbers and the pin is the same but must now be used in the new 'swipe' machine. Not all outlets have the machine as yet, and because of that one can still use the signing method at those places."

A reader wrote: "The same problem exists in Europe, (which I) experienced on my tours. I was also informed that, as and when various places install or replace their system, it will only have facilities for chip and pin."

This from another reader: "My wife and I travel frequently to the US, where my son lives, and we have had a number of problems with our credit cards in recent years, most of them tied to the aftermath of 9/11. A couple of years ago, our son called to say he was finding that some (but not all) retail establishments, such as filling stations, department stores, etc. were refusing to accept his Visa card (which is in my name too), because it wasn't a US (card).

"Lately this has raised its ugly head on US purchases online. We had simplified our billing address to read more like a US address, because of stiffer scrutiny. We also had Bank of Butterfield embed Mailboxes Unlimited as a second billing address on all our credit cards that we use for purchases and shipment. Half our US suppliers won't supply because we don't have a US credit card."

Finally this, from another reader: "I had problems with my chipless cards with two retailers in eastern Holland and a hotel in eastern Belgium, having to go to the local bank for cash."

Suggestions: I'm going on hols to the UK soon, and plan a three-way attack. My MasterCard works in many places, and will remain my first option. I have an airline-mile earning card, so using it whenever possible is my main strategy. (Cash advances earn no miles.)

Not wanting to trawl around the banks until I find a helpful one, I'm going to buy a Sterling draft to pay into my UK account. If the card fails, maybe a cheque will work. I can also withdraw cash from the account once the draft has cleared. Cash is my third most important relationship. (Don't ask.)

I like the idea of telling retailers who won't take my card to stuff it, but shopping in the UK means standing in line forever, and walking out empty-handed after half a day in line would spoil my week. On vacation, who needs the hassle?