New Chip-Enabled Credit and Debit Cards
By Tom Cleary, Vice President Chebanse Facility
You may have noticed a change in the equipment used by businesses to process your credit or debit card. Or you may have heard about a new kind of card. Or maybe you have no clue what I am talking about. No matter what category you find yourself in, I hope that my post will give you just the information that you need.
First of all, if you haven’t heard, the credit card is undergoing a transformation and eventually all credit and debit cards will be of this new variety called the EMV card (also called chip-enable or chip card). EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa and describes a new kind of card which was developed by these companies for the purpose of providing heightened security. These cards have a chip embedded in them and guard against one type of credit card fraud. Because these cards give each transaction a unique identifier, they are much more difficult to fraudulently duplicate.
If you don’t have any cards with this new technology, you may be wondering how this advancement will affect you personally. The benefits of these cards include an added layer of security and an increased global acceptance. These cards do not eliminate all fraud, but they protect against counterfeiting of cards and reduce the overall threat of fraud. In addition, these cards are accepted at more places all over the world, not just in the United States.
As far as your day-to-day use of your new cards, there will be a few minor differences. EMV cards will have a slightly different appearance. You will be able to see the chip, which is embedded in the card. When you use your new card at an establishment with the chip-enabled equipment, you will be dipping your card (inserting it face-up, chip-end-in) instead of swiping it. If the merchant has not made the switch to the new technology, you will be able to continue to swipe it. The process at an ATM is similar. You can make online or phone purchases with your new cards just as you did with the old ones.
I hope this post has supplied you with all the information you need in light of this new advancement in credit card technology. If you have a credit or debit card with Federated Bank, you will be receiving new chip-enabled cards in the near future. With the relatively small differences in use and the increased protection against fraud, this should be a positive and painless transition. Please feel free to call or come in to speak with one of our friendly representatives about any questions you have.
