Other LanguagesSEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson, joined by eight fellow attorneys general from around the country, today urged the nation's largest credit card issuers to speed up implementation of secure chip and PIN technology. Chip and PIN is widely considered a more secure means of processing credit card transactions than traditional magnetic-stripe payment cards and thus an important safeguard against fraud and identity theft.
The “chips” are microchips embedded in standard-size plastic credit cards. When used at chip-enabled terminals, the chip encrypts information to increase data security.
Ferguson and his fellow attorneys general asked leaders at companies including MasterCard, Visa, Discover Financial Services, Bank of America, Capital One, Citigroup, American Express and JP Morgan Chase — who have collectively begun the nationwide transition to chip and signature, as distinct from chip and PIN, cards — to move to full chip and PIN technology as soon as possible.
The attorneys general said that doing so would be in the best interest of consumers, who are now routinely impacted by data breaches involving credit and debit cards, and of local businesses, which are at increased financial risk as well as harm to their reputations and loss of consumer trust when breaches do occur.
“I am committed to protecting consumers from credit-card fraud and identity theft,” Ferguson said. “This proven technology enhances consumer protection, and I hope to see it implemented soon.”
The attorneys general said that while the ongoing implementation of chip-enabled cards in the United States is "imperative in order to provide stronger payment security and assurance to consumers," most chip cards currently being issued in the country rely on a signature, rather than a PIN, as the secondary form of verification.
"There can be no doubt that this is a less secure standard, since signatures can easily be forged or copied or even ignored at the point of sale," the attorneys general wrote to leaders of the credit-card industry. "In order to better protect consumers, the chip-enabled cards issued in this country must be reinforced with the requirement that consumers enter a PIN to verify the transaction. … Absent this additional protection, your customers and our citizens will be more vulnerable to damaging data breaches. This is something we cannot accept, and nor should you."
By the end of 2015, there were 1.62 billion chip cards in use across 80 countries around the world. Countries including France, Canada and the United Kingdom have reported significant reductions the various types of payment card fraud since their adoption of chip and PIN technology. Since 2003, the United States has consistently accounted for about half of the global loss from fraudulent transactions, despite being responsible for only a quarter of total card payments.
Attorneys general from Washington, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia joined in today's letter.
Click here to read the full letter.
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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Attorney General Bob Ferguson is working hard to protect consumers and seniors against fraud, keep our communities safe, protect our environment and stand up for our veterans. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
CONTACT: Peter Lavallee, Communications Director, (360) 586-0725; PeterL@atg.wa.gov