Chip & Pin Cards

[Hlitner]

I think the difference lies in who is left holding the bag if the transaction turns out the be fraudulent.

 

In the US the merchant has no liability as long as they follow the proper card procedures. All the risk lies with the credit card issuers....and they seem to be willing to pay the cost of fraud rather then pay the expense of new card readers, software, etc. As to the consumers, in the US we are all protected by Federal Law (this is not the case in Europe) so the users could care less.

 

Hank

[Philob]

Anyone else remember the change from the imprint charge slip machines and the "bad card" books? There must be advantages for the merchants and issuers to motivate them to change to chip and pin.

 

About two years ago when I paid for my glasses, the optometrist used one of those charge slip machines, the year stopped at "00" and he calls in for the authorization.

 

I talked to his son about it soon afterwards and he said, "man, he just got his first fax machine last year." "And the insurance cos are on his case because he won't file claims online cause he doesn't have and won't get a computer!"

 

Been in business for 75+ years and as of last Sunday, still open ;)

 

BTW: He finally got a CC reader, only because they no longer provide the carbon paper charge slips.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Philob

[thinfool]

In the US the merchant has no liability as long as they follow the proper card procedures. All the risk lies with the credit card issuers....and they seem to be willing to pay the cost of fraud rather then pay the expense of new card readers, software, etc. As to the consumers, in the US we are all protected by Federal Law (this is not the case in Europe) so the users could care less.

 

Hank

 

I read something that said that beginning Oct. 2015 this would change. By then chips will be (supposedly) everywhere in the US and any merchant taking a non-secure (magnetic strip only) card will be liable if it is bogus.

[jsmeeker]

I read something that said that beginning Oct. 2015 this would change. By then chips will be (supposedly) everywhere in the US and any merchant taking a non-secure (magnetic strip only) card will be liable if it is bogus.

 

If chips being everywhere is just chip and sign, nothing really changes much except how they physically handle the card.

[Underwatr]

If chips being everywhere is just chip and sign, nothing really changes much except how they physically handle the card.

It's much harder to clone a card's chip than a magnetic stripe, so the inherent security is in the automatic validation of the card as being genuine. That not much really changes from the point of view of the user is probably a good thing.

 

Walmart checkouts have chip readers on the card machines, by the way.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Underwatr

[jsmeeker]

It's much harder to clone a card's chip than a magnetic stripe.

 

That doesn't really change the user experience if you aren't actually entering a PIN and still doing the signature. Not sure how that's all that much better when it comes to real valid cards with a legit chip that are being used fraudulently.

[Philob]

You literally skim them over the reader, so they're only mm's away from it. These type of transactions in the UK are currently limited to £20 max. Yes they can be read by illegal devices, but they've got to be very close and you're more likely to have your old 'swipe' cards illegally swiped by a shop or restaurant than get your card read illegally. Yes you can get shielded wallets for your cards.

 

In light of what happened to Target the last few weeks, one doesn't need to have an illegal skimmer to get their card compromised.

[Aplmac]

.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/20/technology/security/target-credit-hack

 

.

[jeph]

I agree with the last couple of posters...Expert commentators on CNN etc are saying that this latest data breach at Target may well help to force the issue. I don't think an extra buck-fifty for a chip-type credit card will bother any consumer who can afford to carry a credit card in the first place; the real resistance is from merchants who will have to shell out a few hundred bucks for new card-reading equipment. But more and more of them are now seeing that the time to bite the bullet and drop the five-decade-old tech is NOW.

[SadieN]

Looks like October 2015 is the date for Chip cards in the US.

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/05/a-surprising-consequence-of-targets-slip-up.aspx

 

We will see what really takes place. I'm not holding my breathe.

[Algebralovr]

I had a conversation about this with the lady who issues the cards at my local bank the other day. It came up because of the Target issue.

 

MC and VISA are starting to crack down on vendors a bit. She told me that they caught an instance where someone tried to use a patrons card at the checkout, it didn't go through, so the checker "forced" the card. The bank's customer denied the charge, and because the checker had forced the card, the vendor was on the hook for the amount.

 

Personally, I cannot wait until the US banks all issue modern cards.

[newport dave]

Some Credit & Debit cards in the UK are now being issued as both 'Chip & Pin' and 'Contactless'. Got a new Capital One credit card a while back as they don't charge any foreign transaction fee, and the card is as above. You use the 'Contactless' technology for any transactions under £20 if the vendor has the technology, and anything over £20 is via chip & pin.