EMV- Dennis S Hurd

Survey: Consumers Lack Knowledge and Education on New Chip Cards

November 30, 2024         By: Melanie Macinas

Just more than a month after the EMV liability shift came into force in the US, a new survey from CA Technologies has showed that consumers lack knowledge and education on the new microprocessor chip debit and credit cards that they have been getting from card issuers.

While 59 percent of US adults have already received a new chip card, only 41 percent of them know its benefits and only 37 percent say their card issuers explained how to use the chip cards.

Seventy-seven percent of survey participants also believe their new chip cards will offer them better protection from fraud during online purchases, the study found.

Carol Alexander, marketing director for CA Technologies payment security business, commented, “What’s most disturbing from the survey is that people think their chip card technology will help protect them in their online purchases. The fact is a more secure point-of-sale solution, which the chip cards are supposed to offer, will spark an increase in online, card-not-present fraud. We saw these phenomena in Europe and other regions who have adopted chip card technology. The strength of the U.S. e-commerce market makes card-not-present fraud an equally important security issue that card issuers and merchants need to consider in the shift to chip cards for point-of-sale transactions.”

The survey also looked at whether the new chip cards will influence consumers’ shopping behavior during the holiday season.

The study found that 27 percent will shop completely or mostly online; 25 percent will shop completely or mostly in stores; and 47 percent will shop both online and in store.

Meanwhile, 71 percent said the shift to chip debit and credit cards has no or much influence on their shopping behavior this holiday season.

The new chip cards, which replace traditional magnetic chip cards, are part of the US shift to EMV specifications for smart card payments and acceptance devices. These specifications have been developed to guarantee interoperability between chip-based payment cards and terminals and improve security.