While patrons will do some damage this holiday season, some say the one thing that should remain intact is your personal security – thanks to microchip technology.
“It certainly doesn't hurt to have that added security,” says Alexis Bradford, who was shopping at K Plaza located between 120 and L streets.
But the added security has its limitations.
“Now another myth – is that it's going to eliminate any kind of data breach to the merchant,” says Jim Barnes, an entrepreneur who helps merchants become microchip-ready. “Not true. Those are two different things.”
Barnes is founder of American Payment Systems, a company that helps retailers become microchip ready.
He says it will only protect consumers from fraudulent activity during face-to-face interactions.
In October, major credit companies implemented the new standard EMV, which was named after the companies that created it: EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa.
The Oct. 1 deadline, self-enforced by MasterCard and Visa, suggested retailers switch over to the new payment process for their own protection.
Otherwise, if retailers are not capable of handling microchip card transaction then all liability shifts from credit companies to stores, says Barnes.
The nation lags behind other developed countries that have used the technology, with personal identification numbers, for the past 20 years.
In 2014, a senate committee revealed half of the credit card frauds in the world happen in the U.S. although the country’s use of credit card transactions account for 25 percent globally.
Unlike a magnetic swipe, the information in the microchip is encrypted and scrambled several times during a payment processing, according to Barnes.
With the addition of adding a PIN, duplicating a credit card will make it difficult to create a fraudulent copy.
However, there is a price for implementing the new technology: microchip cards will slow down the already soon-to-be long lines due to payment processing during this holiday season.
Some shoppers, like Bradford, say they do not mind.
“I think it's a fair trade off. I mean [that’s] one of the main reasons I come here to shop."
