NEW YORK – MasterCard announced this week that it is extending its zero-liability policy in the United States to include ATM- and PIN-based transactions, effective October 2014. This is in addition to coverage already provided on signature debit and credit transactions, according to a press release.

In addition, the card company says that all MasterCard credit, debit, prepaid and small business cards issued in the U.S. will now carry Identity Theft Resolution assistance, a program that provides help in canceling missing cards and alerting credit reporting agencies, as well as targeting searches to detect if stolen personal and confidential data appears online. The Identity Theft coverage extension begins in July 2014.

NACS has actively called  on the card brands for over a decade to do right by consumers and protect their accounts with more than a cardholder signature.

Read more about data security in the May issue of NACS Magazine.