The satisfying way we swipe our credit or debit cards may soon become a thing of the past as more chip enabled cards require users to fully insert their cards into billing terminals. Financial institutions around the country are taking a hard look at their current security measures and recent fraud trends to determine if it's time to shift to the new high security cards. For Brooklyn Cooperative, a local community financial institution, the decision to shift to EMV chip cards was a proactive step that couldn't be denied.
EMV cards were developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa in hopes of creating more levels of protection for consumers when they allow a merchant to access their card. Until the introduction of Chip & PIN technology, all face-to-face transactions used a magnetic stripe to read and record account data, and a signature for verification. By fitting merchants with payment terminals that can access the chip, each transaction creates a unique footprint and the cards can carry more layers of security than the average magnetic swipe.
Recently, companies ranging from small local shops to large superstores like Target, have experienced cases of data theft that compromised far too many of their customers. According to Brooklyn Cooperative's Director of Member Services, Rebecca Pear, safety concerns and a recent shift in liability made the new technology the best choice.
"In October of 2015, there was a liability shift around the country. Merchants used to take most of the responsibility for fraud or compromised information but now institutions have to take more security measures as well," Rebecca Pear explains.
As more and more merchants invest in the technology, they are creating a system where both parties work hard to ensure that each transaction is secure. In addition, a hacker cannot duplicate these EMV chips in the way that they have re-created magnetic strips. Counterfeit fraud rates are already going down across the country thanks to the adoption of EMV, according to MasterCard and Visa which is encouraging smaller institutions to make the change as well.
All of the Brooklyn Cooperative accounts opened in May at either the 1474 Myrtle Avenue location or the 834 Dekalb Ave location were given the new EMV chip cards. Over the next year, the bank expects to issue even more as they get replacement card requests or as cards reach their expiration date. If a customer wants to opt for the latest card, they can come in and get one at either of the Brooklyn branch locations.
For more information on the card swap, please visit this link.
