PIN Keeps Credit Cards Safe

PINs with credit cards are the “simplest and most cost-effective” security measure.

February 26, 2016

WASHINGTON – What’s the easiest and least expensive way to secure credit card transactions? Require a PIN, wrote Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president for government relations, in an op-ed article this week in The Hill. “Stolen credit card information gets used tens of thousands of times each day. It probably has even happened to you. And it could be stopped by simply asking the person using the card to verify that they are indeed the owner of the card,” he pointed out in the piece.

“No less an authority than the Federal Reserve has found PINs make debit-card transactions 700% safer,” he wrote, adding that Europe and Britain already require PINs with credit cards. “Major news outlets from Forbes magazine to CNN to NBC News to The Washington Post have all pointed out this fatal shortcoming in the security of our credit cards.”

Beckwith went on to report that Australia, Canada and Europe have adopted the chip-and-PIN technology, while the United States continues to drag its feet on implementing this crucial safeguard. “Top U.S. law-enforcement officials also say PIN makes cards more secure. It’s the global gold standard proven to protect credit card holders.”

ATMs have relied on PIN security for years, but items purchased in stores are just as valuable as cash from the ATM—and merchants should have the means to protect their merchandise as well. “Unless and until we give store-owners the tools to protect themselves and their customers with PINs, fraud will keep going up and thieves will keep doing all they can to steal credit card numbers,” Beckwith concluded. “It’s time for that to stop.”

For more information, visit www.privatePIN.com.

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