For years, the U.S. has been paying with plastic, while other countries have moved forward with electronic chip technology. But it looks like the U.S. may now be catching up. With all the recent security breaches, Americans have realized how important it is to have protective measures in place. And one of the easiest ways to do this is through technology.
Unfortunately, the magnetic strip on the back of your credit card makes it an easy way to get hacked. Credit card fraud was nearly $5.3 billion in the United States alone in 2012, and that number has only continued to grow. So, it’s time to put these protective measures in place. E.M.V., or Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, is a system that embeds smart chips in the credit card. These chips authenticate that their bearer is the rightful user, and they are extremely difficult to counterfeit. So, many credit card companies and issuers are beginning to use smart chips and advanced computer programming to prevent credit card fraud.
However, although many companies are setting the motion in place, it looks like it may be awhile before it becomes commonplace. According to Shirley W. Incose, an analyst at the Aite Group, “E.M.V. is going to cost billions of dollars to implement in this country.” So, many retailers and issuers have been dreading the process. But the recent hackings have made the switch inevitable, forcing most retailers and issuers under pressure to put E.M.V. in place by October 2015 in the United States.
Source: New York Times
