EMV Chip Card FAQs

What is EMV?
EMV Chip technology is becoming the global standard for credit card and debit card payments. Named after its original developers (Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®), this technology features payment cards with embedded microprocessor chips that store and protect cardholder data. This standard has many names worldwide and may also be referred to as: "chip and PIN" or "chip and signature."

What is chip technology?
Chip technology is an evolution in our payment system that will help increase security, reduce card-present fraud and enable the use of future applications. Chip-enabled cards are standard bank cards that are embedded with a micro-computer chip. Some may require a PIN instead of a signature to complete the transaction process.

What makes EMV different than the traditional magnetic stripe card payment?
Simply put, EMV (also referred to as chip-and-PIN, chip-and-signature, chip-and-choice, or generally as chip technology) is the most recent advancement in a global initiative to combat fraud and protect sensitive payment data in the card-present environment. Payment data are more secure on a chip-enabled payment card than on a magnetic stripe (magstripe) card, as the former supports dynamic authentication, while the latter does not (the data are static).

Can my card information still be stolen on my EMV Chip card?
EMV Chip technology adds an additional layer that helps keep your card information secure. The chip alone does not make your card more secure. If an EMV Chip card is used at an EMV Chip terminal, that will add an additional layer of security to protect your card from unauthorized usage. This procedure makes it more difficult for your chip card information to be stolen.

When will I receive my EMV chip card?
All new personal and business debit cards are now EMV Chip cards. If you have an existing non-chip enabled card, you can expect to receive your new EMV Chip card when your current card is scheduled to expire. If you would like to replace your existing non-chip enabled card with a new EMV Chip card please call us at 708-222-2800.