According to Tracy Kitten at The Fraud Blog, First Data is going to roll out chip and PIN for debit cards. Although it’s not the perfect technology, it’s a step in the right direction for the payment industry.
It’s not too far in the future either. First Data plans to pilot and test the technology, which they are calling CertiFlash, in the next three months. They’ll start rolling it out early in 2011. It looks like it will be nothing more than a sticker that can be placed on a mobile phone, a watch, or even a debit or credit card.
What isn’t mentioned in Tracy’s article is when the mag stripe will go away. As long as there are mag stripes there will be mag stripe problems. I’ve seen nothing in the trades, the blogs, or anywhere else that tells me mag stripes are going away any time soon.
Merchants, of course, will have to foot the bill for new readers.
