Did you know the magnetic stripe technology was developed back in the 60's? That's 50 years ago! My, how times have changed.
In a recent article, Bob Sullivan at MSNBC says Europe has been slowly eliminating this technology since 2005; what's taking the U.S. so long? The price tag. It's mega dollars for card companies to adopt the newer "chip and PIN" technology. The chip and PIN technology embeds a microchip into the card and is more secure and thus less vulnerable to fraud attempts.
In an attempt to eliminate all magnetic strip cards in the wake of the 2009 breach at Heartland Payment Systems (where millions of credit card numbers were stolen), the European banks are considering the option to refuse to accept magnetic stripe cards for payment transactions. U.S. travelers to Europe may find difficulty in the future if they do not possess the new chip and PIN cards. Some European vending machines and train ticket kiosks already require these "smartcards".
With our fraud rates on a rapid rise, predictions are that our magnetic stripe cards will be a thing of the past. Start planning now.
Read Bob's full article here: The Death of Magnetic Stripe Card
Ciao for now, Paula
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