EMV Chip Card Preview

 In General

EMV Chip Card Preview

You may have heard the buzz about a new credit and debt card technology known as EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) or “chip cards.” But what exactly is chip technology, and how does it work?

FNBC’s Vice President of Operations Wallene Frazier and Deposit Operations Leader Clint McBryde will provide the basics of the EMV card system on today’s blog.

What is EMV?

EMV or chip technology is becoming the new norm of fraud protection for debt and credit card users. Europe has been using the technology for several years, and the U.S. is now converting to the change. EMV is a safer way of paying via debt or credit because it uses a microchip to validate a user’s card. This chip is unique to each user and contains his or her account information. The small chip even holds its own self-powered battery and a clock.

What’s the difference between a chip card and my current card?

The EMV card looks almost identical to the traditional magnetic strip cards. There is a small chip overlay on the front of the card to protect the chip inside the card. The actual chip is not under the overlay; it is embedded in the card itself.

Financial information on the chip card is more secure than the traditional magnetic-strip card because the data is nearly impossible to copy, whereas the information in the magnetic strip on the back of the traditional card can be easily scanned and reproduced with a machine, allowing criminals to access account and personal information.

How do EMV cards work?

To use an EMV card, the process differs slightly from swiping a traditional card. Businesses are currently in the process of converting to EMV card terminals. Rather than swiping your card, you must insert the card in a card slot on the terminal and leave it until the transaction is complete. Usually, the terminal will ask customers for a signature or pin.

Can I pay without an EMV card if I don’t have one yet?

EMV cards will still have a magnetic strip and terminals will also have the traditional swiping method available to use during the national conversion process.

FNBC is excited to make this new technology available to customers very soon. Be looking for an update on our progress in the near future!

Start typing and press Enter to search