Why has the US not Moved to Chip & Pin?

[Anonymous]

Not really a question I'm expecting to have answered here, but what are some of your theories on why CCCs haven't moved over to the Chip & Pin system.  This seems like it would be a MUCH more secure transaction.

The reason I thought of this was:  Credit Card fraud is easy if you get your hands on someone's cards (I know, I've had someone get their hands on my cards).  If there was a pin associated with the card, simply finding a credit card isn't going to give you access to a small spending spree.  There is already groundwork with this method (debit cards), why would we NOT move to a more secure payment option?

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Not really a question I'm expecting to have answered here, but what are some of your theories on why CCCs haven't moved over to the Chip & Pin system.  This seems like it would be a MUCH more secure transaction.

The reason I thought of this was:  Credit Card fraud is easy if you get your hands on someone's cards (I know, I've had someone get their hands on my cards).  If there was a pin associated with the card, simply finding a credit card isn't going to give you access to a small spending spree.  There is already groundwork with this method (debit cards), why would we NOT move to a more secure payment option?

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Simple... Money.  Cheaper to take the losses then move to Chip and Pen currently, comes down to the bottom line..  Most Europe or asian countries are tiny in comparison to the US in # of merchants, etc.. That is why they have superior Cell networks as well, etc less area to cover, less politics, etc, etc..  Just my take on it

[Anonymous]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Not really a question I'm expecting to have answered here, but what are some of your theories on why CCCs haven't moved over to the Chip & Pin system.  This seems like it would be a MUCH more secure transaction.

The reason I thought of this was:  Credit Card fraud is easy if you get your hands on someone's cards (I know, I've had someone get their hands on my cards).  If there was a pin associated with the card, simply finding a credit card isn't going to give you access to a small spending spree.  There is already groundwork with this method (debit cards), why would we NOT move to a more secure payment option?

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Simple... Money.  Cheaper to take the losses then move to Chip and Pen currently, comes down to the bottom line..  Most Europe or asian countries are tiny in comparison to the US in # of merchants, etc.. That is why they have superior Cell networks as well, etc less area to cover, less politics, etc, etc..  Just my take on it

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Show me the money!  

[Anonymous]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Not really a question I'm expecting to have answered here, but what are some of your theories on why CCCs haven't moved over to the Chip & Pin system.  This seems like it would be a MUCH more secure transaction.

The reason I thought of this was:  Credit Card fraud is easy if you get your hands on someone's cards (I know, I've had someone get their hands on my cards).  If there was a pin associated with the card, simply finding a credit card isn't going to give you access to a small spending spree.  There is already groundwork with this method (debit cards), why would we NOT move to a more secure payment option?

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Simple... Money.  Cheaper to take the losses then move to Chip and Pen currently, comes down to the bottom line..  Most Europe or asian countries are tiny in comparison to the US in # of merchants, etc.. That is why they have superior Cell networks as well, etc less area to cover, less politics, etc, etc..  Just my take on it

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+1 on this. If fraud was costing them too much money then they would have switched centuries ago... The fact is they have done the calculations and they know it is too expensive. Isn't life always about the money? Not cool.

[nyancat]

This is a topic I've talked to a lot of people with close connections on, and there are multiple reasons, but the biggest is an intense fear of being first, especially since most merchants don't have chip support enabled (and some of those who do have PIN disabled) so by the time one needs their PIN they're likely to have forgotten it.

Some groups, like Visa, strongly recommend that issuing banks do NOT enable PIN. The main reason for this is perceived ease-of-use. Yeah, because getting hassled for ID in a foreign country is "easy" *sigh*

Others, like Mastercard, take a more neutral approach or even are pro-PIN - Mastercard has a website encouraging US issuers to consider issuing Chip and PIN cards.

Some issuers, like Chase, have expressed pro-PIN speech, but haven't issued PIN cards because they don't want to be first. Others are staunchly anti-PIN.

Some in the industry think PIN will come later, others don't.

Walmart is one of the biggest hypocrites, calling signature "worthless" - yet their own Mastercard is... chip and SIGNATURE. UGH. They also have EMV only partially enabled... they don't allow chip debit cards, and they don't FORCE the chip to be used on chip credit cards (without forcing a chip insert on a chip card, a counterfeit magnetic stripe can still be used).

The conclusion? The US has a mess of different, diverse reasons banks and issuers are avoiding PIN. The biggest one is that everyone's afraid of going first.

[CreditCuriosity]

Problem is, not even with Chip and pin, just with chip and Signature... Is they need to be activated by Oct or the merchant has responsibility!  I don't understand why merchants aren't starting to get on board quicker as if I was a business owner, I wouldn't want to wait until the last minute to turn on the system and have something fail or whatever else could go wrong..  retailer's are fighting a losing battle IMO holding off until the last possible minute on implementing this.  Sad thing is The US Created MC/Visa/Amex and own them, yet we are 10-20 years behind the rest of the civilized world on technology due to many reasons as poster above stated and obviosuly cost reasons as well.

[Anonymous]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

Problem is, not even with Chip and pin, just with chip and Signature... Is they need to be activated by Oct or the merchant has responsibility!  I don't understand why merchants aren't starting to get on board quicker as if I was a business owner, I wouldn't want to wait until the last minute to turn on the system and have something fail or whatever else could go wrong..  retailer's are fighting a losing battle IMO holding off until the last possible minute on implementing this.  Sad thing is The US Created MC/Visa/Amex and own them, yet we are 10-20 years behind the rest of the civilized world on technology due to many reasons as poster above stated and obviosuly cost reasons as well.

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I think the US is afraid of doing anything first in general. Not just with regards to money. We try to act like we are top of the world in industry and advancement, but to be honest this usually isn't the case.

[core]

Because as a cardholder, I want speed and convenience, not security.  I'm not on the hook if someone skims my credit card info, so why should I care?   It's not worth the extra 5-10 seconds per transaction it would take, and it most certainly is not worth having to remember 20+ different PINs for all the cards in your wallet.  Credit unions for example are notorious for not allowing you to select your own PIN.  No freaking thanks.

Credit card companies send out surveys for such things and they are going to be guided by what the customers want at least on some level.  I know I have filled many out myself over the last 6 months, and I told them exactly what I stated above.  I will avoid any chip & pin card like the plague _if_ it's required to use it in the US.

[CreditCuriosity]

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@core wrote:

Because as a cardholder, I want speed and convenience, not security.  I'm not on the hook if someone skims my credit card info, so why should I care?   It's not worth the extra 5-10 seconds per transaction it would take, and it most certainly is not worth having to remember 20+ different PINs for all the cards in your wallet.  Credit unions for example are notorious for not allowing you to select your own PIN.  No freaking thanks.

Credit card companies send out surveys for such things and they are going to be guided by what the customers want at least on some level.  I know I have filled many out myself over the last 6 months, and I told them exactly what I stated above.  I will avoid any chip & pin card like the plague _if_ it's required to use it in the US.

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Agree it will be a pain if you cannot pick your own pin, but get ready for change as it will be here within the next few years..

[Anonymous]

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@core wrote:

Because as a cardholder, I want speed and convenience, not security.  I'm not on the hook if someone skims my credit card info, so why should I care?   It's not worth the extra 5-10 seconds per transaction it would take, and it most certainly is not worth having to remember 20+ different PINs for all the cards in your wallet.  Credit unions for example are notorious for not allowing you to select your own PIN.  No freaking thanks.

Credit card companies send out surveys for such things and they are going to be guided by what the customers want at least on some level.  I know I have filled many out myself over the last 6 months, and I told them exactly what I stated above.  I will avoid any chip & pin card like the plague _if_ it's required to use it in the US.

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I think the CU fixed PIN is partly the technology they went for.  Certainly elsewhere allows easy change of CHIP and PIN credit cards in an ATM

And people are used to PINs for ATMs and debit card transactions, so I'm not sure why this is considered so much worse.   Most people don't have lots of credit cards (or lots of bank accounts for that matter)