August 10, 2009
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U.S. Credit Card Technology being Eclipsed?, Pt.4
What does it mean to us?Also, coming into vogue in both countries are "wave" credit cards (using EMV or RFID), otherwise called contact-less. These cards are similar to the chip & PIN cards but do not require an PIN entry. They are being tested in the US but, again, for lack of unity are struggling in growth and acceptance. Many US companies offer smart-card credit cards and a few merchants are able to accept them. Again, it all comes down to whether a merchant is willing to foot the bill of the expensive upgrade. Amex were probably the first to implement them but were closely followed by VISA and MasterCard.
Right now there is a movement to issue the chips without the use of a card at all. Smart-chip credit cards have already found their way into cell phones (though not implemented in the US yet). The beauty of these is that they can host several different credit cards all in the same cell phone. They can be individually selected by the phone's keypad and offer another advantage of two-way communication to provide a receipt and record stored in the phone's memory.
Another new initiative involves implanted smart chips replacing conventional credit cards. This is a matter of discussion requiring an entire series of it's own. In fact, this has been done. For more specifics on this topic, check out the series entitled "He Causeth all..to Receive A Mark in Their Right Hand" .
None of this, of course, resolves the "mag stripe" vs. "Chip & PIN" credit card conflict. Even the applications in the US which employ EMV (radio scanning), none comply with the "EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications" required for the European "chip & PIN" model. As director of risk management policy for the ABA (American Bankers Association), Don Rhodes puts it: ""Creating a chip-and-PIN card for travelers is something that would be considered if using credit cards in Europe becomes a problem for Americans,"