EMV not PIN is key to tighter security

That’s why banks have been working around the clock to issue cards with EMV chips, with an estimated 575 million expected to be in the hands of consumers by the end of 2015. These cards produce a one-time transaction code that can’t be guessed or re-used for future payments, thus adding a dynamic, ever-changing layer of security on top of static card information like account numbers. The EMV chip, not the PIN, is the key to keeping sensitive information safe by making the financial data nearly impossible for criminals to create, sell and use for counterfeit cards. In fact, nearly all of today’s fraud comes from counterfeit cards made with stolen personal and financial data or online theft. PINs only protect against lost and stolen cards, a small and rapidly diminishing portion of fraud, not counterfeiting or card-not-present transactions.