Fraud Decrease Shows EMV Cards Are Working

When EMV cards were first issued, they promised to reduce the cases of credit card fraud. For an idea of what we can expect, we just need to look north of the border. Canada saw a 73 percent reduction in debit card fraud between 2009 and 2012. So now that EMV cards are being more widely used in the U.S., let’s see how well they’re working.

First, let’s take a look at how many chip cards are out there. Seventy percent of credit cards have been issued with EMV chips to date. Meanwhile, the cost for smaller banks to upgrade to EMV card technology is holding back the debit card transition. A little over half of debit cards in the U.S. have the EMV chip.

The increased use of chip cards is having a clear effect on fraud. Visa stated that card counterfeit fraud had dropped 26 percent in January 2016 when compared to January 2015. USA Today reported in April that five of Visa’s largest merchants that were vulnerable to card fraud in the past saw an 18 percent decrease in fraud during the last quarter of 2015 once the new EMV technology was implemented.

Ever since the liability shift to merchants without EMV technology, it has become even more important to employ EMV devices for your business. Just over 20 percent of businesses in the U.S. use the EMV card readers, so there is still a long way to go. We have a range of affordable options if you haven’t switched over to the new system yet. Visit Swypit.com to learn more about our EMV chip-enabled card readers to ensure your secure transactions.