When I was in Germany this year, the servers at restaurants brought a portable CC terminal to the table for me to enter my PIN code to complete my CC transaction.
This is how it should be here.
Chilis, for example, has that Ziosk thing where you pull up your bill and swipe your card at the table.Yeah, I liked that as well, and have found more and more restaurants here using smart phone and tablet solutions that keeps the card at the table.
The problem is that it's super easy currently to take any EMV chip card, swipe the magnetic data, and print your own card with that magnetic data with no EMV chip that will be accepted anywhere. I suspect they'll lock that down, but it'll probably take yeeeeaarrrsss.
Not all places have the chip reader enabled yet. I don't know about our local Target. A lot of places have the new readers at the registers, but still need you to swipe because the haven't gotten their systems self-aware yet.Exactly that appears to already have happened to a new chip card my wife got a few weeks ago. Ironically, some of the fraudulent transactions were from a Target hundreds of miles away. I know Target has EMV chip readers, so what I can't figure out is why the network wasn't smart enough to figure out "hey, this is supposed to be a chip card, why is it being swiped?".
Exactly that appears to already have happened to a new chip card my wife got a few weeks ago. Ironically, some of the fraudulent transactions were from a Target hundreds of miles away. I know Target has EMV chip readers, so what I can't figure out is why the network wasn't smart enough to figure out "hey, this is supposed to be a chip card, why is it being swiped?".
A lot of places have the new readers at the registers, but still need you to swipe because the haven't gotten their systems self-aware yet.
Not all places have the chip reader enabled yet. I don't know about our local Target. A lot of places have the new readers at the registers, but still need you to swipe because the haven't gotten their systems self-aware yet.
I've run into that at a few bodega shops as well, plug in the card and they tell me I need to swipe.
most of the emv terminals aren't online yet it seems. however, the majority of cards being used in the country today are EMV capable. they're being issued very quickly.
I typically look at the screen, and if it says "Swipe" then I just swipe and don't try the EMV and that works fine. If it says "Swipe" and something about "Dip" or "Insert Card" then that is the clue that you need to insert the card.
Here, either there is a $25 wire fee (and often a pick up fee), or, get this, Wells Fargo Bill Pay system is that they mail a paper check, pulling the money 7 days prior and floating it; but floating it doesn't even pay the postage anymore.
Seems to me you need a new bank.:wink2:
I have both a Wells Account that I use when living in CO and my main account with PNC. I agree Wells bill pay is stupid and I don't use it. PNC, OTHO charges nothing and I have over ten accounts from Credit Cards to Utilities to Lawn Service I pay direct with no charge.
Both of them finally sent me Chip Cards earlier this year but there're the chip and sign versions like the rest of the ones I have.
Cheers
I have an EMV card and I noticed that most places don't even have the function available on the card reader(even though it is clearly a new reader with the EMV slot) to use it so I end up swiping it anyways. Going to Europe they use it almost everywhere.
My credit union (Alliant, whom I'm obsessed with) just sent me my first chip enabled card. Many retailers here have the capability, though just today I noticed I still had to swipe at one location. Henning, dump your bank and get a credit union. I've never been happier.
My credit union (Alliant, whom I'm obsessed with) just sent me my first chip enabled card. Many retailers here have the capability, though just today I noticed I still had to swipe at one location. Henning, dump your bank and get a credit union. I've never been happier.
I'll look for an Alliant, I really no longer need WF, actually I never signed up with them, I had ditched them long ago. When I got back from Aus the first time I signed up with Wachovia, I liked them, they were good, then WF took them over, and really it's been on thing after another since.
Alliant is formerly United Airlines employees credit union. There is no brick and mortar location near us but I have little need for a physical location. Checking accounts offer 0.7% APR. Savings account is 1.0%. Call center open 24 hours staffed by US reps. Website is slick and efficient. Deposit checks by smartphone. Loan and CD rates are reasonable.I'll look for an Alliant, I really no longer need WF, actually I never signed up with them, I had ditched them long ago. When I got back from Aus the first time I signed up with Wachovia, I liked them, they were good, then WF took them over, and really it's been on thing after another since.
Ok, so the EMV cards are secure, well as secure as they can be.
But what exactly is an RFID type card? What is it used for and who uses them?
And how would I know if a card is so equipped?
It depends. But the simplified version is that if the card has a chip and the merchant accepts a swipe transaction from a counterfeit card, the merchant is liable. For merchants that have dual capability, the mag stripe tells the reader if it is a chip card. But as Jesse says, this can be altered. The readers can be confused in other ways, too.We are so far behind on implementation. Spent a month in Scandinavia and chip/pin was everywhere. Don't remember signing anything. Of course I had to call my credit card co to get a pin. I think the merchant here is liable if they accept a swipe and sign that's no good.
My US passport, I believe, has an RFID. Also my Global Entry card, issued by the US of A has RFID and comes with a foil sleeve. The passport does not.
Canada is big into chipped cards.
If you really want security use apple pay or get a paypal debit card (acts as a proxy)
Exactly that appears to already have happened to a new chip card my wife got a few weeks ago. Ironically, some of the fraudulent transactions were from a Target hundreds of miles away. I know Target has EMV chip readers, so what I can't figure out is why the network wasn't smart enough to figure out "hey, this is supposed to be a chip card, why is it being swiped?".
Correct. There is a lot that happens between the chip, the terminal, the processor, and the brand networks. It's somewhat secure.
The problem is that it's super easy currently to take any EMV chip card, swipe the magnetic data, and print your own card with that magnetic data with no EMV chip that will be accepted anywhere. I suspect they'll lock that down, but it'll probably take yeeeeaarrrsss.
The wheels don't turn quickly in this industry. The certification requirements are a ***** and take LOTS of time and man hours.
Isn't the fact it has EMV capabilities embedded in the Mag strip? When I goto WalMart or wherever thats using EMV, and I swipe it instead, the terminal says "this is an emv card.. please insert."
Are the hackers removing this flag from the MSR when they clone?
Edit: I see you already answered this.
With rare exceptions, PayPal is the only debit card I use at magstripe terminals since the last time my card information got stolen. My PayPal card information was among the information stolen (and used to the tune of ~$700.00), but because I immediately get an email on my trusty BlackBerry every time it's used, I was able to nip it in the bud.
I called PayPal, who immediately refunded my money and canceled the card. They did, however, offer to authorize one last ATM withdrawal at any ATM near my home if I needed cash before they canceled it, or to wire-transfer money to my credit union if I needed more than could be withdrawn from an ATM and didn't have time to wait for an EFT to clear. I thought that was a nice touch.
Granted, I've had a business PayPal account for 16 years this coming February, maintain a pretty high balance in it, process thousands of dollars of plastic through them every month, and have never once had a complaint or chargeback. Whatever PayPal's highest level of love for a user is, I'm probably in that group; so maybe I got some sort of priority treatment when I called. I do know I'm in some class that gets instant phone support when I call based on the amount of charges I process, so maybe I also got a little extra love from them when I called about the card fraud. But maybe not. Maybe they bend over backwards for anyone who's been a fraud victim. I like to believe the latter.
PayPal also assisted my county Sheriff's department in the investigation until it was handed over to the State Police and ultimately to the Secret Service. The deputy said they were actually very helpful and provided a lot of useful information about investigating identity theft and payment card fraud that she didn't know before.
Another interesting PayPal experience: Some years ago I charged airline tickets to my PayPal debit card, but I wound up staying in California a few days longer than I originally expected. I charged the additional fare for the return trip extension to whatever other card I happened to pull out of my pocket.
The day after my original return date, I used the PayPal debit card while still in California. I think it was at an ATM. The transaction went through, but PayPal's fraud department immediately called me on my cell and asked me some security questions to make sure it was me.
After verifying my identity, the agent explained that according to the information PayPal had, I should have been back in New York by then, so using the card in California raised a red flag. Had I used the PayPal card to pay for the trip extension their system probably would have figured it out; but because I didn't, they thought it might be fraud. I was impressed.
My credit union was also very proactive, but I'm still leery of using a card attached to my personal or business checking accounts even though there was no loss to me when the card information was stolen. The credit union's fraud department called me at 05:30 to tell me that one of my cards had been attempted to be used to buy jewelry overseas somewhere, and when I told them it wasn't me, they cancelled both cards and had replacement cards waiting for me at the branch that same morning.
I do use my credit union's debit cards to pay routine bills online with companies that I trust (at least as much as I trust any of them these days) like AT&T, USAA, Sparrow Fart Telephone, and others that don't charge extra fees for using plastic. I want the CU to get the revenue. But I'd really have to be hard up to use them at a swipe terminal or ATM.
Now that it's all going EMV, maybe I'll rethink that. But magstripe? No way. Never again. Not on a card linked to my checking account, anyway.
I'll also use my Fidelity debit card once in a while because there's usually not more than a grand in the card-accessible part of the Cash Management Account (basically the checking part -- I don't have card access set up for the brokerage part and don't intend to), so the risk is very limited. They also offer some pretty nice advantages for using the card such as automatic extended warranties, ATM fee refunds, and so forth.
Rich
I've had similar experiences with my paypal business debt card, it's the only card I use, plus when I run it as credit, which I always do, I get 1% cash back on everything.