The swiping motion when we make a purchase using credits cards will become a thing of the past once security measures are made to traditional payment cards by 2015. Most merchants are more likely to switch to the new credit card reader by that time.
Card issuers, led by MasterCard and Visa, are creating a new type of credit card that will have a computerized chip, a form of encryption, instead of the traditional magnetic strip found at the back of the credit cards today. Removing the strip will get rid of several vulnerabilities that include electronic skimmers that would install machines to collect data.
Merchants are now using new pin pads even if machines are not yet equipped to read the chips in debit and credit cards. The chip reading part of the pin pads will be implemented next fall. Once consumers get new card with Europay MasterCard Visa chip installed, they have to inert the card at the start of the transaction and wait for the payment to be credited.
Once consumers are familiar with the process, they will be willing to accept the card. According to some experts, the transaction will take longer than usual. Consumers need to insert the card into the slot instead of swiping it.
But industry experts said that consumers will be able to adapt the new method of paying. Security is also more important to them than the inconvenience of one to two seconds that the new method will bring.
Credit card associations have agreed to retain the liability for the fraudulent charges if merchants adopt the new technology before fall of 2015. The deadlines for ATM cards and debit cards with the new chips will come later.
