Why we're behind the world on chip and pin credit cards

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Arks

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The latest TIME Magazine has an article explaining why the US trails the rest of the world by still relying on magnetic strip credit cards rather than the more secure chip and pin system the rest of the world uses. US credit card companies lost $3.56 billion due to fraud in 2010, but they still won't spend money to upgrade us to chip and pin. The reason is cheap phone charges in the US.
In the rest of the world, telecom monopolies charged banks a fortune to check each card over the phone lines they way they're usually done in the US (due to our cheap phone calls), so they developed chip and pin, which allows merchants to authenticate transactions locally, without need for a phone call to the central computers.
We're slowly changing over, though. By 2015 merchants who don't have chip and pin readers will lose their indemnity for accepting counterfeit cards. Also, the contactless transactions (waving your card at an ATM terminal or using your phone to buy coffee at Starbucks), requires the same technology in the card, so that's pushing us to finally catch up with the rest of the world.
 
Because there are too many of them dadgummed "holy rollers" who don't want an embedded chip anywhere (not even in a smart card). They won't even chip their pets at the vets office. They don't wish to go with the mark of the beast, just yet. Where no one can buy or sell without it.

(howz that for not mentioning rev 13:16 and starting a holy war on the forum)
 
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Since nobody is forced to carry a credit card, holy rollerism is no excuse!
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Now, about not starting a war on the forum, assume NOTHING!
 
One of the things that people forget is that card-in-hand theft includes all theft at ATMs and automated machines. Criminals fear handing you a fake card because you see them, you can call the police, you can identify them. But an ATM doesn't have that face-to-face thing, they feel no remorse in ripping off a machine. The fake transactions at the ATMs is rampant.
 
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