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Financial Institutions Still Trusted to Innovate and Protect Payments, but Retailers Must Do More
Voters still trust financial institutions over retailers to develop new payment technologies and safeguard personal information during the checkout process, according to new Morning Consult survey data. In fact, a strong majority of voters expect retailers to step up when it comes to payments. Four in five voters agree that stores should update their technologies to ensure customers have a range of payment options at the register and that retailers should share in the infrastructure fees that make electronic payments possible. “Financial institutions continue to develop new technologies to make electronic payments quicker, safer, and more convenient—all of which make retailers’ and consumers’ lives better,” said Jeff Tassey, chairman of the board of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC). “However, the onus is on retailers to step up and protect their customers at the checkout. As the recent data breach at Lord & Taylor showed, retailers must be proactive and do … Continue reading
Op-Ed: National data security standards are better than PIN
The National Retail Federation (NRF) has launched an ad campaign to advocate for “uniform national” data breach standards for “all affected industries.” Welcome to the cause. The financial services industry already is subject to uniform standards and continually has fought for national rules to cover all affected industries. Retailers opposed these efforts. Instead groups like the Retail Industry Leaders Association push lawmakers and regulators to instead adopt a government mandate that would cost billions to implement and do little to protect consumers. Barclays of London introduced Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) in 1967, the year the Beatles and Monkees battled for the top of the charts. That music is timeless. PIN is not. Because PINs are a static data element, they don’t protect against counterfeit or card not present (CNP) fraud, which together account for about 85 percent of total U.S. card fraud. According to the Aite Group, it would cost … Continue reading
New Video: Electronic Payments 101
Op-Ed: New Report Shows Benefits Of Payments Innovation
We have officially entered retailers’ favorite time of year: holiday shopping season. The next month should be joyful — but it might not be for consumers. Imagine unwrapping a notice that says your payment card was compromised at one of the dozens of merchants you visited on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It’s becoming a more frequent occurrence, and even though banks and credit unions typically make consumers financially whole for fraudulent transactions that result from a retailer breach, individuals are still deeply affected, spending hundreds of dollars to keep fraudsters from wreaking havoc on their credit history months, or even years, later. Continue Reading
New Report Demonstrates Need for Choice and Innovation in Order to Prevent Payment Fraud
Today, the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) released a report that found multiple dynamic fraud technologies are necessary to combat payment-card fraud. EPC analyzed information from 20 countries that have varying levels of EMV adoption and use a mix of PIN and signature authentication. EPC found that chip-enabled smartcards—also known as chip cards—have dramatically reduced counterfeit card fraud. In countries where chip cards comprise at least 75 percent of payment cards, counterfeit fraud has declined by 84 percent over the last 11 years—even as the number of in-store transactions has increased 21-fold. The report also examined the use of PIN and signature authentication, with research showing “there is no clear relationship between total card fraud and a country’s preference for using signatures or PINs” in conjunction with payment cards. This point emphasizes the need for choice—and not a government mandate—when it comes to payment-card security. “This report confirms what we’ve said … Continue reading
On the Road for Holiday Travel? Watch Out for Skimmers
New Infographic: Stopping for Gas? Beware of Skimmers
Millions of Americans are hitting the road this weekend for vacation. While traveling, many of us will stop at gas stations and convenience stores to stretch our legs, grab a bite, and fill our tanks—putting us at risk for skimming fraud. Recent data shows that nonbank ATMs, especially those at convenience stores, are being targeted by thieves using skimmers to pull debit card data. Gas pumps, which do not have to be EMV compliant until October 2017, are also susceptible to skimming. Police around the country are warning consumers about gas pump skimmers. So as you’re hitting the road for your summer vacation, be sure to ask “Got chip?” when you pull out your credit or debit card and dip instead of swiping. Below are helpful tips to protect your information. Continue Reading
New Resource: How EMV Can Help Defend Against Hackers
EPC’s latest resource explains how EMV chip cards can help defend against hackers.
Credit card security has no silver bullet
But Sam Fabens, spokesman for the Electronic Payments Coalition, said that while the EMV transition is gradual, it is happening. “There have been more chip cards issued in the U.S. than anywhere in the world,” he said, adding that, “it was designed to be a process.” “In some cases, merchants looked at their risk profile in terms of when to make the transition (to EMV-enabled terminals), and small ones may have decided to wait for natural update,” he said.
In Sweden, a Cash-Free Future Nears
Parishioners text tithes to their churches. Homeless street vendors carry mobile credit-card readers. Even the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine to the 1970s pop group that wrote “Money, Money, Money,” considers cash so last-century that it does not accept bills and coins. Few places are tilting toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden, which has become hooked on the convenience of paying by app and plastic.