NEW YORK (AP)—A big change is happening inside your wallet.
United States banks, tired of spending billions each year to pay back fleeced consumers, are in the process of replacing tens of millions of old magnetic strip credit and debit cards with new cards that are equipped with computer chips that store account data more securely.
By autumn, millions of Americans will have made the switch from the old magnetic strip cards. That 50-year-old technology, replaced in most of world, lingers on the back of U.S. cards and is easily copied by thieves, leaving people vulnerable to fraud. Roughly half of all credit card fraud happens in the U.S. even though the country only makes up roughly 25 percent of all credit card transactions, according to a report by Barclays put out last week.
This entire switch is a massive undertaking. Roughly half of all U.S. credit and debit cards will be replaced by the end of the year. Tens of thousands of individual merchants need to upgrade their equipment to allow for “chip-and-sign’’ transactions instead of “swipe-and-sign’’ ones. If the stores aren’t ready, they could be on the hook to cover the cost of fraud.
About Post Author
