PCA Forums

There's no cure for stupid...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kateashford ... -too-long/

It is rather annoying how long it takes. Honestly, I haven't had to use mine yet (though, I chose to several times).

I still haven't even gotten my chip cards yet, for anything. Waiting patiently, but might have to start calling around at the beginning of the year.

Kinda worthless to have a chip card that still has the magnetic strip. It really doesnt solve any issues until the magnetic strip is removed.

RubberDuckie wrote:Kinda worthless to have a chip card that still has the magnetic strip. It really doesnt solve any issues until the magnetic strip is removed.

Yea lets just switch from magnetic strip to chip from one day to the next. Lets see how that works out Right now what it's doing is simply shifting the liability from the card companies to the retailers. It will probably take like 5 years to be 100% chip or close to it, but even then until they switch to chip + pin, it won't be as secure as it could be.

Incidentally, all my cards are chipped now. You most likely won't get the chipped card until your current card is replaced (lost, expired, stolen, etc...)

Oddly enough, the only place I've been able to use the chip feature is Wal-Mart. Everyone else has the proper reader but it isn't enabled.

psypher wrote: Incidentally, all my cards are chipped now. You most likely won't get the chipped card until your current card is replaced (lost, expired, stolen, etc...)

Actually, some banks are swapping them out before they're expired. I've had all of mine swapped out despite having over 2 years on them still. Some banks even created completely new account numbers for my wife's card, instead of just changing the name, so you can track purchases better.

For some reason, the Forbes site is telling me that I have an Ad Blocker running so it won't let me get to the article, despite turning off NoScript to see if that was the culprit. Still can't see it with any browser.

How odd.

i haven't had much luck with using the chip so far either. most stores haven't enabled it...those that have don't tell you to use it until you swipe and then have to start over. once you try, it takes quite a while to authenticate everything...once it was 30+ seconds. it's a shame it's been deployed so poorly so far.

Losbot wrote:Actually, some banks are swapping them out before they're expired. I've had all of mine swapped out despite having over 2 years on them still. Some banks even created completely new account numbers for my wife's card, instead of just changing the name, so you can track purchases better.

Yes, I was referring to people that haven't had them replaced already. Meaning, if the bank hasn't proactively replaced it, it won't get replaced until they are forced to replace it.

I also noticed something new with Citibank cards. They removed the embossed numbers. They are now written on the back of the card.

Losbot wrote:For some reason, the Forbes site is telling me that I have an Ad Blocker running so it won't let me get to the article, despite turning off NoScript to see if that was the culprit. Still can't see it with any browser.

How odd.

You have to allow tracking on the site in order to be able to view the article. Sites like these are why we I use script and ad blockers in the first place.

I received an email from my bank today telling me that I'll be getting my new, replacement chipped debit card in the next 2 weeks. Hopefully it'll still be useful?

We'll be in a transition period for a year, where your card will have both a strip and a chip. That offers zero protection if the card is stolen, but the real benefit of the chip is security at the store, and considering all the POS data breaches, that's a good thing.

The mag stripe gives the store everything someone needs to duplicate your card EXCEPT the security code. That's the problem. If their POS system is compromised, or they are stupid enough to store all of that in an unsecured database, then someone could get it and replicate your card.

The chip, on the other hand, only gives the store a unique transaction number for the one transaction (generated with some crypto based on your card's and the store's private encryption key). That number identifies you to the credit card company. That number is unique to you AND unique to the store AND unique to the transaction. If someone steals that number (say, by inserting malware in the POS terminal) it won't be of any use at all. It's only good for that one transaction. There is also no other information revealed about the card so unlike with a mag strip, the store doesn't know ANYTHING about you (no name, no credit card number, no expiration date).

So frankly, I prefer using the chip and I'll wait the extra 20 seconds.