The United States is the only country in the world that still relies on magnetic stripe technology for its credit and debit card users. Magnetic stripe technology is easily counterfeited, and United States banks incur an extremely high percentage of credit card fraud.

On October 1, 2015, the liability for credit card fraud in the United States will shift from banks to the party with the least secure form of EMV (Europay Mastercard and Visa) equipment. EMV microchip cards will be much more secure because their dynamic data allows for a unique code to be created for every transaction at the point of sale. It is also very difficult to counterfeit a card with a chip.

Credit card providers and retailers have until the October 1st date to upgrade their cards and install equipment that will read the new cards. After that date, if a cardholder’s account is compromised, whichever party has the least secure form of EMV technology will be responsible for the fraudulent payment amount.

What consumers will see:

  • Microchip-embedded credit cards from their banks.
  • New equipment at the retailer will replace swipe terminals. The consumer's card will be inserted into the terminal. The card stays inside the terminal until the entire transaction has been completed.
  • The card will be retrievable after a PIN number or signature is completed.
  • Magnetic stripe machinery may still be used in many businesses because the new terminals are expensive.
  • Fuel stations will have until October 1, 2017 to upgrade to an EMV terminal.

Click here to access an overview from VISA’s website.