The nation’s largest banks are starting to compete for customers that want EMV chip-equipped credit cards. EMV chips are really a very small built-in circuit built into a credit card, and the technology was developed by a joint venture between Europay, Mastercard and Visa. The chips provide greater security than magnetic stripe cards that are more typical in America.
International jet set wants greater utility from credit cards
A common complaint among jet set types traveling overseas and using their credit cards is that European merchants often have difficulties processing American credit cards that have antiquated magnetic stripes rather than EMV chip cards more common overseas, according to Bloomberg. So, in order to capitalize on the need among wealthier credit card users, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are bringing EMV chips to their high-end lines of charge cards. Wells Fargo is launching a pilot program, where about 15,000 consumers can be invited to use the Wells Fargo EMV chip card sometime this summer. JPMorgan Chase is diving straight into the deep end, and could be issuing EMV cards to customers enrolled in its Palladium program for high net worth clients.
Merchants losing money
The EMV card is necessary. It is not a joke to laugh about. Magnetic strip cards aren’t accepted in several places in Europe. Due to this, in 2008 card providers lost $ 447 million in revenue while European merchants lost $ 4 billion. Wikipedia points out that Smart Cards are not just like magnetic stripes. They use “Chip and PIN” technology. There is a 3 by 5 millimeter circuit board and computer chip in these Chip and PIN Cards. They keep all user information in them. Merchants carry a smart card reader, where the card is inserted and read, instead of swiped. The sale is made with a Personal Identification Number that is given. The benefit is that smart cards are less easily corrupted by thieves.
Preparation of card corporations
EMV chips are only one particular kind of smart card chips, developed in a joint venture between European credit card company Eurocard, MasterCard and Visa, hence “EMV.”. There are EMV chips in American Express cards already. Its Express Pay line has the chips. Since the U.S. has a difficult time sometimes adapting to other countries’ technologies, the smartcard reader isn’t a well used in America as it is in Europe. After putting the chips in charge cards for high end consumers, JPMorgan plans to start putting EMV chips in all the cards.
Articles cited
Bloomberg
bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/jpmorgan-pushes-chip-cards-to-wealthy-in-race-with-wells-fargo.html
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV
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