I only use debit cards (a prepaid Mastercard for small daily purchases and VISA bank debit card for any bigger purchase or to take cash from ATM, plus my business debit card for any expenses while working so it takes money from my business account and not personal) and they always have a chip & PIN. I guess credit cards might work differently as you want to be able to charge back. With debit card there are no charge backs so it makes sense to always use chip & PIN process because it's very secure even though slower.
There is debate about the security of the PIN when the POS has been compromised. So the threat is that your PIN gets stolen and then you have to dispute unauthorized charges against your bank without the protection of Visa or MasterCard's fraud protection.
