Fiserv Inc. said on Friday that it will begin personalizing chip payment cards based on the EMV standard.
These cards feature a micro-processing chip that stores cardholder data more securely than magnetic stripes do.
In other countries, EMV cards are commonly called chip-and-PIN cards for their most prominent security feature. U.S. banks and merchants have long resisted the EMV standard, but some began issuing the cards to travelers last year. Visa and MasterCard have also put incentive programs in place to prompt merchants and ATM operators to accept chip cards.
According to the organization responsible for managing EMV specifications, EMVCo, approximately a billion EMV cards have been issued globally and 15.4 million point-of-sale terminals accept EMV cards, the press release stated.
