Amplify is Transitioning to EMV Chip Cards

ARTICLE BY JIM BAKER

The latest weapon in the ongoing war against fraudsters is the EMV smart payment card, and Amplify Credit Union is busy arming its members with it as we speak.

Credit and debit cards with an EMV chip (an abbreviation of Europay, Mastercard® and Visa, the companies that originated the standard) provide another level of defense against those bent on stealing your credit card or debit card number and using it illegally. This is an important development for our card users because EMV chip cards have proven to be very effective in reducing illegal card duplications. The United States has been slow to adapt this method, but fraud has been greatly reduced in countries where it is already in use. Canada, for instance, has seen a 40 percent drop in credit card fraud thanks to EMV chip cards.

Amplify members will soon receive or may have already received your new EMV-enhanced Amplify Credit Card. You’ll notice straight away that it carries an embedded chip. Now, instead of swiping your card, you will insert it so that the terminal can read the cryptogram contained in the chip. While it was possible for fraudsters to read the old magnetic strip, the EMV chip is remarkably dupe-proof. Because your card number is not stored in the chip, it cannot be retrieved by fraudsters.

The Importance of EMV Chip Cards

Why is this transition to EMV chip cards important to you? After all, Amplify debit and credit cards have always offered Zero Liability Protection and will continue to do so. Here are some other benefits of the EMV transition.

• Fraud wastes your valuable time. For one thing, having your credit or debit card number stolen creates a ripple effect of hassles that goes beyond simply having the fraudulent charges reversed in your bank account. Your card must be replaced, and then you have to update all of your auto-payments and monthly bills with your new card number.
• Fraud is remarkably expensive. Financial institutions like Amplify spend significant amounts of time, money, and resources to detecting, mitigating, and dealing with fraud. In other words, these valuable assets could benefit members in countless other ways. Therefore, reducing these fraudulent occurrences will benefit every aspect of your Amplify Credit Union experience in the long run.

Not every retailer in the U.S. has EMV terminals, so your EMV chip card still has the old magnetic strip so that you will be able to use it in places that have not updated their terminals to accept EMV. If the retailer has updated their terminals, the new terminal will instruct you as to what to do – even if you accidentally swipe the magnetic strip out of habit.