Re: Zip code for non-US cards
I can confirm, if had to stay in Germany for longer than 10 days I'd die of starvation (I was trying to outsmart the system and withdraw cash at better exchange rate outside an airport only to find that nobody took US cards outside the hostel I stayed at, rather small town; I did not want to risk my return trip and hypermiled every commute - German "clean diesel" did well for that).
I could care less for C&P - mostly false security as far as I know and liability passed onto customer.
Regarding 300$ withdrawal limits - banks have better ways to nickel and dime their customers. This limit is to protect account holders as fraudulent cash withdrawals are next to impossible to dispute/reverse.
ZIP is not uniformly required at gas stations (no idea why), and has been - most likely - introduced to make it more difficult for crooks to test the card before buying big ticket items.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
