PIN vital on New credit & debit cards - NRF

08 Mar '14

2 min read

In response to announcement by Visa and MasterCard of the formation of a new cross-industry group focused on enhancing payment system security, The National Retail Federation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan says, “We remain insistent that U.S. retailers’ customers be given the same protections as consumers in more than 80 countries who have both a chip and a PIN securing their credit and debit cards.

“There is no single solution to the complex issue of criminal hacking and we know PIN and Chip is just a bridge on the long road to a safer payment system, but it is an important step in the right direction.

“We appreciate being involved in meetings with other stakeholders such as the one hosted by Visa and MasterCard last week. While we certainly agree that speed is of the essence, we don’t believe that is an obstacle to introducing PIN and Chip cards since the technology is well established and the cards are widely used around the globe.

“Easy-to-forge signatures are a virtually worthless form of authentication.Insisting on chip-and-signature cards is like installing an alarm on the front door of a home while leaving the back door wide open. It doesn't make sense when the technology exists to secure the entire house.”

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

The National Retail Federation

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