With Canada and Mexico both going to EMV and most of the rest of the world doing the same it may be a matter of time before U.S. card issuers are forced to go to chip and PIN. EMV in the U.S. was the topic of a panel at the CTST Conference in New Orleans.
Geography isn’t the only issue either, says Rene Bastien, product manager for payment products at SAFENET. It’s becoming more common for U.S. travelers in Europe to have transaction denied because retailers aren’t authorizing transactions with just the mag stripe. “EMV is happening everywhere.”
Jack Jania, vice president and general manager of secure transactions at Gemalto, says some U.S. banks are considering issuing EMV cards to high-end customers who frequently travel overseas.
Dual-interface cards are also starting to appear on the scene, Jania says. These cards have one chip but can perform EMV transaction through a contact interface as well as contactless.
Canada may also bring to bear some pressure for EMV, says Deb Baxley, managing partner at Keypoint Solutions. If Canadian issuers start to see credit card fraud add up with mag stripe transactions merchants could start denying the transactions.
So when will the U.S. make the move? It’s hard to say. “I hate to put a date on it,” Jania says.
But there has been progress. Two years ago U.S. issuers wouldn’t even talk about EMV but they are now, Jania says. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
