Richard S. Marcus
EMV payment cards: The future is here
EMV cards are coming to the United States. Card issuers are migrating to chip technology, and many large merchants are going to be ready with chip-enabled point-of-sale devices by the deadline (generally October 2015) imposed by the card associations (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express). Before you know it, cards with embedded microprocessor chips will be as prevalent in the U.S. as they are in Europe.
The point is to reduce fraud. Chip-enabled cards are more secure because the data that controls authentication is dynamic – it changes with each transaction. By contrast, the data on a magnetic strip is static – it never changes. Once a thief has that data, which can easily be copied (skimmed), the card can be counterfeited.
The point is to reduce fraud. Chip-enabled cards are more secure because the data that controls authentication is dynamic – it changes with each transaction. By contrast, the data on a magnetic strip is static – it never changes. Once a thief has that data, which can easily be copied (skimmed), the card can be counterfeited.
