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October 23, 2014

Obama Signs Executive Order to Microchip All Credit Cards!

The President is signing a new Executive Order directing the government to lead by example in securing transactions and sensitive data. The new BuySecure Initiative will provide consumers with more tools to secure their financial future by assisting victims of identity theft, improving the Government’s payment security as a customer and a provider, and accelerating the transition to stronger security technologies and the development of next-generation payment security tools.



During remarks at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the President will highlight steps by his Administration and the private sector to improve security. With over 100 million Americans falling victim to data breaches over the last year, and millions suffering from credit card fraud and identity crimes, there is a need to act — and to move our economy toward stronger, more secure technologies that better secure transactions and safeguard sensitive data.



While there is no silver bullet to guarantee data security, the President is signing an Executive Order to implement enhanced security measures, including securing credit, debit, and other payment cards with microchips in lieu of basic magnetic strips, and PINs, such as those standard on consumer ATM cards. He is calling on all stakeholders to join the Administration and a number of major corporations in driving the economy toward more secure standards to safeguard consumer finances and reduce their chances of becoming victims of identity theft — America’s fastest-growing crime.

The President will announce the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection later this year to promote partnership and innovation. The Summit will bring together major stakeholders on consumer financial protection issues to discuss how all members of our financial system can work together to further protect American consumers and their financial data, now and in the future.



More than 80 countries around the world use chip technology. Yet less than 1 percent of credit cards issued in the U.S. have chips. That's about to change.
U.S. slowly rolling out chip card technology
Europe began the migration to chip cards soon after 2002, when EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa collaborated on EMV, the leading global standard for chip technology. While magnetic stripes offer the same data every time you make a purchase, chip cards encrypt different data for each transaction, making them harder to clone or use fraudulently.

Chips are coming
Concern about the upswing in credit card fraud is one reason U.S.-based card issuers, financial institutions and retailers have set a deadline of October 2015 to put an EMV payment system in place. That's when liability for counterfeit fraud shifts from the issuers to merchants and their acquirers if their equipment does not support EMV.
This is becoming one of the easiest places to commit counterfeit fraud, and the problem is expected to grow at a faster pace.
-- Guy Berg 
Credit card consultant
Industry experts say we can expect a large-scale rollout of chip cards in the U.S. later this year and into 2014. By October 2015, major retailers will likely have terminals in place to read chip cards. Without terminals to support EMV, retailers rely on the mag stripe -- even when the card contains a chip.
Don't expect to use chip cards at the gas pump until at least 2017, however. "Installing that equipment requires specially certified personnel working in a highly combustible environment," Berg says.
Most issuers are doing a business case analysis to determine when it makes sense to begin issuing EMV cards. ChaseCitiAmerican ExpressDiscover and a few credit unions began introducing chip cards in 2012.  Currently, there are at least 50 EMV cards available to U.S. cardholders, according to a list compiled by the frequent traveler forum FlyerTalk.
Bank of America offers chip-and-signature technology for a dozen cards, including its Travel Rewards, AAA Member Rewards, Virgin Atlantic and Asiana Airlines cards. Citi has EMV chips in some AAdvantage and Thank You Premier cards. Chase offers them in J.P. Morgan cards and cards co-branded with Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and British Airways. American Express Platinum and Centurion cards also come with chip-and-signature technology.


Source: 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/10/17/fact-sheet-safeguarding-consumers-financial-security
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/us-slowly-rolls-out-emv_chip-technology-1276.php
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