I've previously posted about my frustrations at being stranded abroad without a functioning credit card — particularly at train stations — and the refusal of American credit cards to adopt a technology that has been in my building laundry room for years.

So I was quite excited to read in this morning's Times that Chase has begun to offer "chip and pin" cards. As Katie has previously noted, I use a Chase British Airways Visa. So I called them up all excited, hoping to get a card before my summer family vacation, only to be told that only private banking clients were getting chip and pin cards.

The customer service agent seemed entirely perplexed when I said "your loss." The inability to get somebody to supply a product that consumers demand is almost enough to undermine my faith in the invisible hand.