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06/05/2010 -
In an effort to increase security measures, many merchants in Canada have converted their systems to chip and PIN terminals. However, as the Globe and Mail reports, customers are losing, or better put, forgetting their cards more frequently because of this switch.The switch to PIN and chip card technology was intended to eliminate the potential of hackers replicating information stored on a card's magnetic strip. With new PIN cards, terminals authenticate cards via a new microchip embedded in a user's card. However, this process involves inserting the chip into a terminal, and since customers had been used to the previous swipe method, they simply walk or drive away thinking they never lost possession of the card.
"I think a lot of [the trouble] is people just getting used to the fact that instead of swiping it, they're now inserting it," said Caroline Chubberstey, director of public affairs at Interac - the network that sets policies around chip technology - the Globe and Mail reports.
Currently, 65 percent of debit cards possess the chip technology. By 2015, magnetic strip transactions will be completely phased out.
