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Because consumers typically used to only be able to get them for higher cost accounts, and there was virtually nowhere to use them. More recently, the US payments industry decided to adopt chip only using EMV standard, not chip and pin. With an upcoming liability shift in October 2015, card issuers are issuing new cards with the chip in records numbers, especially big banks. But it's still a slow process rolling out, with some cards still not having chips. Most Big box stores are on pace to support EMV by October; others will lag.

There are two basic reasons.The most often quoted reason is credit cards allow you to spend tomorrow's money today. It's also the stupidest reason.The second reason, and by far the most intelligent reason, is that credit cards offer the consumer benefits and protection that you will never get from a debit card. Never.Every time I make a purchase with my Citibank card, I get at least a 2% cash rebate. If I take the family out to eat, Barclays gives me a 4% rebate. Try that trick using a debit card. If I travel abroad, I pay a foreign transaction when using my debit card. With my credit card there is no fee and I still even get a cash rebate.If you lose your debit card and / or someone uses it to obtain goods, services or cash without your authorization, you are out that money for at least several days until your bank places that money back into your account while they investigate. That you need that money now to pay your mortgage is just tough luck. That doesn't happen with a credit card.If you have a dispute with a merchant that you paid with your debit card, you have no protection. With a credit card, you have chargeback rights. Several years ago I ordered a tube of gold coins from a very reputable merchant that I had successfully dealt with in the past. They mail the tube of coins to me via Registered Mail. But I never received them. I contacted the merchant and they showed me where USPS confirmed delivery and received a signature. But I never received anything. Had I paid using my debit card, I could only bend over and grab my ankles. $20,000 lost.But I didn't use my debit card. I paid with my credit card and immediately filed a dispute with my bank. The chargeback ended up in the MasterCard arbitration system and I won. Just because the USPS says you got something doesn't prove it actually happened. It was the merchant who had to bend over and grab their ankles. Two years later my postman is in prison. Postal Inspectors had raided his home and found hundreds of mail pieces there undelivered. One was the package with my coins.Using a debit card is just plain stupid.Update: There was an interesting presentation sponsored by Google given by Frank Abagnale. While most of the presentation doesn't pertain to the topic at hand, at about 40" he replies to a question concerning debit vs. credit cards.Frank Abagnale: "Catch Me If You Can" | Talks at GoogleDebit cards are, he states, "the worst financial tool ever given to an American consumer." He then goes on to explain why.

I am not a credit card expert, but I am an American technology professional who has traveled the world extensively, and this topic has fascinated me for years, therefore I have been educating myself on it when time permits.Before 2014, it was difficult to find an American credit card which used Chip & PIN technology, also known as EMV (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV). Since 2014, most major credit card issuers have been slowly adding Chips to their cards, but are using Chip & Signature as opposed to Chip and PIN.Chip and PIN vs. chip and signature (from Wikipedia)According to issuer preference, some EMV cards are "chip and PIN" cards that require the customer to supply a four-to-six-digit personal identification number (PIN) when making a purchase at PIN-capable terminals. The chips in these cards feature "PIN" ranked first in the list of possible cardholder verification methods (CVM), but with signature allowed as a fall-back option (or PIN verification at unattended terminals).Other EMV cards are either signature-only or prefer signature over PIN in their CVM list (i.e., signature at the POS, but PIN at unattended terminals or ATMs). These are often called "chip and signature" cards.[11]Signature-only cards will not work at points of sale that allow no CVM other than PIN, such as some unattended ticket kiosks in Europe,[11] whereas signature-preferring cards might work. Attended POS, which are staffed by merchant personnel, are required by the credit card agreement to accept magnetic stripe cards as well as chip and signature cards.[11] chip and PIN cards have not been adopted in the United States as of June 2014 for a variety of reasons, including lack of PIN management features in ATMs.[11]The main difference between the way the U.S. and Europe have been validating credit card transactions were caused mainly by banking laws, and apparently cheaper telecommunications costs in the U.S. For many years now, most retailers in the U.S. have been validating each card transaction via the issuing networks; by that I mean, when you charge something to your card, the retailers electronic transmit your credit card info as encoded on the magnetic strip, the amount of the transaction, and retailer account info to the credit card company, and the company then issues a transaction authorization code to indicate that the charge should be accepted, or the transaction would be declined, meaning the card holder had to find another way to pay the merchant. U.S. Banks have long done this because consumer protection laws in the U.S. give the end consumer a maximum fraud liability of $50 on credit card transactions, and has some other limits in debit card transaction. So for the banks to protect their fraud liability, they insisted on validating each transaction.Over time, telecomm cost in Europe and the U.S. have come closer together, mainly because of the Internet. Also, the different technologies on either side of the Atlantic Ocean have been causing difficulties for Americans traveling to Europe as American issued cards had no chip, which many Euro payment terminals required. Also, other technologies like NFC such as used by Apple Pay and others have come into play. So American travelers have been bitching at the banks and credit card companies because they have lots of money to spend when they are in Europe, but they can't pay their restaurant bill, or buy a train ticket after regular business hours.So it seems that political, technical, and financial forces finally combined such that it has become desirable and cost effective for the U.S. banks and card issuers to upgrade their technology. If I remember correctly, on 15-Oct-2015 (will add source when I find it) credit card fraud liability will shift to the merchant if the merchant has not upgraded their payment terminals with EMV. Most new EMV payment terminals also support NFC technology. As such, U.S. Merchants have been upgrading their payment terminals for the past few years, and the terminal upgrades continue today.