Chip Cards Offer Additional Security for Holiday Shopping Season

SOURCE: American Bankers Association

WASHINGTON — As the holiday shopping season approaches, the American Bankers Association is educating consumers about the new chip technology embedded in many credit and debit cards.

The new chip cards offers bank customers an added layer of security just in time for the holidays. The chip – a small metallic square on the front of the payment card – assigns a one-time code for each transaction, and makes it nearly impossible for fraudsters to create counterfeit cards.

“The technology makes it extremely difficult for hackers to steal valuable account information in the event of another retailer breach this holiday season,” said Doug Johnson, senior vice president, payments and cybersecurity policy at ABA. “Banks are constantly employing new technologies to protect customers.”

Bank customers will still have the option to swipe their cards using the magnetic stripe if the merchant has not activated or installed a chip-enabled terminal.

To help chip card holders complete their purchases with ease, ABA is providing the following step-by-step guide to educate consumers:

1. Insert your card into the chip-enabled terminal with the chip first, facing up.

2. Leave the card in the terminal until the transaction is complete. You may be prompted to sign your name. Be sure to take your card at the end of the transaction.

3. If there isn’t a chip-enabled terminal, use the card the traditional way and swipe.

“The most important thing for customers to remember is they aren’t liable for fraud on their account – whether they dip their card or swipe it – as long as it’s reported quickly to the bank,” said Johnson.

For more information on how chip payment cards can make holiday shopping more secure visit www.safechipcard.com/.

The American Bankers Association is the voice of the nation’s $16 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ more than 2 million people, safeguard $12 trillion in deposits and extend more than $8 trillion in loans.