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News: Chips Fighting Back Cyber Thieves - Credit-Land.com

Its been one year since the shift from stripe-based credit cards to EMV chip-enabled ones, and according to new data released by MasterCard, the tech conversion has been good for consumers, as well as banks and merchants, when it comes to upping security and keeping hackers and cyber thieves at bay.

Consumers in the U.S. have had to deal with a learning curve when it comes to using EMV embedded cards that are inserted into terminals rather than swiped, but according to their new survey they recognize the security boosting benefits of the new technology with nine out of ten people using the chip based cards, representing a 38% upswing in usage, moving from 49% last year to 87% this year.

"As more U.S. cardholders use their MasterCard chip cards, they are learning the benefits of increased safety and security. It's no small undertaking to change the way people pay for things. The only reason to start this big a task is to make people's lives better. Chips have the potential to do just that," said Chiro Aikat, senior vice president of product delivery – EMV, MasterCard.

Merchants see the benefits too

MasterCard's fraud data indicates that there has been a 54% decrease in costs associated with counterfeit fraud at U.S. retailers who have either finished or are close to finishing converting to EMV terminals when comparing the data from last year and this year.

While costs decreased for merchants who embrace EMV, its been quite the opposite from those who have not made the transition. With the data showing a 77% upswing in counterfeit fraud costs for big merchants in the U.S. who have failed to migrate to the new tech or are just gearing up to migrate.

To make it more likely that merchants will convert to the new technology, MasterCard has added additional programs into the mix including: speeding up the terminal certification processes so it takes hours rather than days; reducing chargeback costs to merchants; and launching M/Chip Fast, to make getting through the register easier.

The MasterCard study was conducted online by Braun Research from June 27 to July 15, 2016. They spoke with a sample of about 1,000 consumers, who were 18 years old and up.

tags : Chip Credit Cards Mastercard Payment Technologies

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