Heat cooking oil in the pan until it starts smoking. Hey presto it's seasoned. Tomato will not strip it, nor will soap. Intense scrubbing will.
Cast iron is so easy to care for. Just don't stick it in the dishwasher or let it stay wet after washing.
As far as I understand it the pin&chip system involves a challenge/response between the bank and the card. You can't just "clone" the chip, because the secret data it contains is essentially write-only.