The nationwide shift to EMV is well underway.
EMV — which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa — is a global standard for cards equipped with computer chips and the technology used to authenticate chip-card transactions. In the wake of numerous large-scale data breaches and increasing rates of counterfeit card fraud, U.S. card issuers are migrating to this new technology to protect consumers and reduce the costs of fraud.
“These new and improved cards are being deployed to improve payment security, making it more difficult for fraudsters to successfully counterfeit cards,” says Julie Conroy, research director for retail banking at Aite Group, a financial industry research company. “It’s an important step forward.”
Most of all, it means greater protection against fraud.
Approximately 120 million Americans have already received an EMV credit card and that number is projected to reach nearly 600 million by the end of 2015, according to Smart Card Alliance estimates.
Continue reading at BusinessWest.com.
David Griffin is a principal and the executive vice president and treasurer of The Dowd Insurance Agencies. He is a licensed insurance advisor (LIA) as well as a certified insurance counselor (CIC); [email protected]; (413) 437-1005.