By this point, you’ve probably heard about EMV and if you bank with Idaho Central, you have received a new EMV card in the mail. But, what does EMV really mean? How will it impact you?
What is EMV?
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, but you may also hear this referred to as Visa Chip Card Technology. Both references can be used interchangeably.
With EMV, computer chips are built into the plastic of the Visa cards. The chip enables more secure processing by producing a one-time use code for each transaction. This makes EMV cards nearly impossible to counterfeit or reproduce. EMV does everything magnetic stripe cards do, but even more securely. Based on what we have today, this new technology will decrease fraud significantly.
It is important to understand that although you will see a decrease in the frequency of fraudulent occurrences, you won’t see a difference in the way fraud is handled by Idaho Central. Members will continue to have Visa’s Zero Fraud Liability protection as they do now and we will continue to help if you ever experience fraud.
What will be different for users?
Merchants have been and will be switching to the new card readers. Users will insert their card in the bottom of the reader instead of swiping it. These new readers also have the capability to swipe the card if the cards are not equipped with EMV. As soon as members receive and activate their EMV card, they will be able to start using them with merchants who have the EMV enabled card readers.
We are excited about this change and the added security it will bring to our members. For more information, please visit our EMV information page. If you have any questions about this new technology please reach out, we are here to help!