EMV Cards

Security concerns over credit and debit cards have lead to the innovation known as EMV cards. While credit cards in the past relied upon a magnetic strip to be read at the point of sale, EMV cards rely on a microchip inside the card to store and process the account data. This has helped increase the security measures for credit cards and reduce the number of fraudulent credit card transactions.

Why EMV Cards?

Since 2012, we have slowly been transitioning from magnetic stripe credit cards to the more secure EMV cards. Technology has been made available on the black market that allows magnetic stripe credit cards to be cloned relatively easily without the card holder’s knowledge. Replacing the magnetic strip with a microchip makes the ability to clone a credit card nearly impossible.

Types of EMV Cards

There are two types of EMV cards available today; chip and PIN (Personal Identification Number), and Chip and signature cards. Chip and PIN cards are more prevalent in European countries while chip and signature is more common in the United States. Both forms of the card require either a PIN or a signature to add a layer of authentication to the purchase process. While both provide an extra layer of security, there is a significant debate over which authentication method is more secure.

Vulnerabilities

Despite being more secure than their magnetic striped predecessor, EMV cards still have some vulnerabilities.

• Stolen PINs – While EMV chip and PIN cards are designed to be more secure than magnetic stripe credit cards, the technology is relatively worthless if the card issuer allows the card to be read with the magnetic stripe rather than the EMV chip. There have been cases of the EMV card’s stripe to be read, allowing the card to be cloned and the PIN stolen. This can make ATM transactions using an EMV chip and PIN card just as risky as the magnetic stripe cards.
• Expensive – The transition from magnetic stripe credit cards to EMV chip cards has already begun, but it is far from being complete. Millions of credit cards that currently operate using their magnetic stripe will become obsolete once the transition is complete which will cost the industry a large chunk of change. Merchants will also have to update their technology to allow their card reads to process EMV cards, which could take years and cost billions of dollars to replace.

At CardPRO Systems in the Ogden, Clearfield, Layton, Farmington, and Bountiful, Utah area we offer EMV credit card processing or any of our other Merchant Processing Services to anyone in need of merchant services. If you are interested in CardPRO Systems’  services, you can contact our Ogden, UT office here or give us a call at 844-385-2273 to get setup today.