Visa announced today that the number of credit cards issued in the U.S. has hit the 1 million mark. How is it ranking in terms of reducing fraud?
One Million
Banks and credit card companies are finally gaining that momentum with the embedded computer chips used to safely validate credit card and debit card transactions.
Visa also said the interest continues to grow as well as more Americans begin to embrace the new technology.
Migrating the U.S. market to chip will help build an infrastructure for accepting NFC mobile payments, enhance international acceptance and reduce fraud,
said Visa, Inc. spokesperson Stephanie Ericksen.
She also says the past year has been busy with the unveiling of its “roadmap” as “stronger” interest continues to grow for these new safer credit cards. The fact that less than two years ago there were no chip embedded credit cards in the U.S. also speaks volumes. Now, issuers, both big and small, are making the switch – and making the investment.
Visa reports cards with the embedded chip technology, to date, have been issued by Chase Card Services, State Employees’ Credit Union, United Nations Federal Credit Union, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo and many more. Another interesting note is there are currently around 650 million Visa credit and debit cards in the U.S. MasterCard, for its part, only recently began the transition. If Visa’s success is any indication, its biggest competitor should be able to slide into the changes with more of a seamless effort.
Authentication is Key
“Dynamic authentication is the key to securing payments into the future,” said Ellen Richey, chief enterprise risk officer, Visa Inc.
Adding dynamic elements to transactions makes account data less attractive to steal and takes more merchant systems out of harm’s way… this shrinks the so-called battlefield against hackers and other criminals. The migration to chip technology will be an important security layer and a critical step in a comprehensive strategy to use dynamic authentication across all markets and all channels.
On an international level, Visa continues to support a wide range of verification methods, including traditional signature, PIN and no-signature for lower-risk transactions. It’s expected that in the coming years, the use of static verification methods such as signature and PIN will be reduced or eliminated entirely as new and dynamic forms of cardholder verification are brought full circle.
