JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced April 14 it will issue contact smart credit cards to U.S. customers in June, making it the second bank to bet that this technology, commonplace in Europe, will finally take hold in the States.
Though commonly called chip-and PIN cards because EMV smart cards in Europe require PINs, Chase's smart card will be signature-only. Wells Fargo & Co. announced April 13 it would begin issuing 15,000 EMV cards with the technology to U.S. residents this year (
Like Wells, Chase said it will focus first on customers who frequently travel abroad, where merchants and issuers have been quicker to adopt the smart cards. Both banks say their cards also would contain the traditional mag-stripe found on U.S. cards to ensure customers still can make “signature” purchases at domestic merchants, who for the most part have not upgraded to payment terminals that accept smart cards.
“The addition of chip-and-signature technology enables Chase cardmembers to enjoy simplified transactions in Europe, such as seamlessly using point of sale kiosks and train ticket turnstiles the same way the locals can, with the added piece of mind of secure transactions,” David Porter, Chase general manager of card services, said in a press release.
EMV cards store a cardholder’s information on an embedded chip accessed with a PIN, making it more difficult for hackers to access than the data on mag-stripe cards.
Chase said it plans to offer the feature first on its Palladium credit card, which is geared toward international travelers, and later on its other credit cards.
Travelex Currency Services Inc. began issuing chip-and-PIN prepaid cards in foreign currencies at 180 U.S. retail locations in late 2010 with plans to expand the offering to its retail banking partners (
