WASHINGTON – A consumer advocacy group is warning that if banks fail to voluntarily adopt PIN technology for credit cards on their own terms, they may face congressional mandates, according to an article in the Daily Caller this week.
Consumer Policy Solutions (CPS), a group that promotes consumer-friendly public policies, has launched the Protect My Data campaign to advocate for the implementation of chip and PIN technology for credit and debit cards. NACS has long advocated for the more secure chip and PIN cards, which provide an additional layer of identity verification compared to the chip and signature (EMV) cards that are now being introduced to replace magnetic swipe cards.
“As data breaches become more of a common occurrence in today’s digital world, consumers need and expect a sound data security system that protects their personal information,” CPS President Debra Berlyn said in a press release. “With access to the most advanced technology available, there is no reason for this pattern of half-hearted efforts to continue. A crucial element in improving our current system is a migration from our outdated chip and signature payment cards to chip and PIN equipped payment cards.”
As we have written about frequently in NACS Daily and NACS Magazine (read Half-Covered in the May 2014 issue), credit card companies set October 2015 as a deadline for continuing use of magnetic strip cards, at which point retailers will be liable if they do not install chip-enabled card readers. Card companies have been slow to roll out chip cards to customers, however, and have been resistant to chip and PIN cards overall.
According to the Daily Caller, card issuers generally cite two impediments to issuing PINs: that they “would require a much larger investment by card issuers,” and that consumers might have difficulty remembering a new four-digit PIN when making purchases.
CPS counters these arguments, with the reminder that Americans are quite familiar with use of passwords and PINs from daily use of ATMs, email and various online accounts.
“In terms of the cost,” Berlyn told The Daily Caller News Foundation, “the financial institutions aren’t interested in spending the money to upgrade the technology, but it is a basic issue of protecting consumers.” She added that chip and PIN technology “results in greater protections and greater cost-savings for consumers and business, and it would seem to make sense down the road” despite the up-front costs of implementation.