America is switching over to chip-based credit cards. And this means big, big changes for credit card security.
If you’re an American with a credit card, the odds are good you received a replacement card in the mail lately. These cards, with an embedded chip inside referred to as an EMV, are part of a major shift in the way credit cards work in America: In late 2015 and going into 2017, financial liability for credit card fraud will shift to stores and merchants if they don’t accept these EMV chip cards. This means that store owners are rushing to buy the expensive equipment to process EMV chip cards, and card issuers are pumping out cards as quickly as customers can activate them.