Why Doesn’t My New Credit Card Work At The Store? New Security Chip Cards Cause Problems At Some Stores

In case you haven't heard, the United States is migrating towards adopting EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip technology on every card issued in this country.  The move follows what has become standard already in the rest of the world.  MasterCard and Visa are initiating those cards to their customers as their old cards come up for renewal.

The Cards feature a security chip encased behind a gold-colored square on the front left.  The chip is more secure than the traditional magnetic strip which is located on the back of the card.  With the old system, each card had an embedded transaction code that was static with the car.  The new chip system generates a new code with each transaction - making it more secure.

In order to process the new cards, retailers are required to purchase new readers in order to accept the credit cards.  The rollout for those readers in stores is evolving just like the issuance of the new cards to customers.

I have been the owner of one of these new cards for a couple of weeks now.  So far in the Twin Ports area, there are only two stores that read the new card using the chip.  In almost every single transaction that I have tried, the reader has failed to recognize my card (which, I should point out is in good standing) causing a major inconvenience for me as a customer.

I understand why the card companies are migrating towards this new form of security - especially after the recent transgressions into accounts.  However, if they're going to make these cards mandatory for customers and retailers then they need to work out the bugs before they introduce them to the public.

To learn more about the new chip technology, click here.  And when you finally get your new credit card - good luck!