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U.S. Credit Cards Not Welcome?
Steven Hughes
8/11/2010 12:00:47 PM
A number of recent surveys show that anywhere from one-half to two-thirds of people who carry U.S. credit cards experience difficulty when trying to use their cards outside of the United States. The hang-up, as most of you know, is magnetic stripes versus chip-and-PIN technology.
The perennial question is whether chip-and-PIN will make it to U.S. shores, and what factors will line up to motivate a change. Wal-Mart pulled its weight earlier this year when it announced that it would accept chip-and-PIN in its U.S. stores, and the U.S.’s neighbors to the north and south have also moved to adopt chip technology. Still, it hasn’t taken hold here, maybe due to cost – estimated to be nearly $9 billion.
But an article posted Monday on CreditCards.com describes the next generation of payment cards. LCD screens, videos, passwords, voiceover features, etc. In a word – innovative.
From an aesthetic and interactive standpoint, this new generation of cards will pique interest. From a security perspective, the new cards will help prevent fraud through a password protected feature that allows for safer online and in-store purchases.
The catch – these cards are only being tested in the European EMV market on cards that use the chip technology. So will interactive cards take off? Are magnetic-stripe cards becoming obsolete? Will interactive cards nudge the public into creating demand? What do you think?
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