Obama signs order supporting move to EMV; American Express offers program to boost adoption

New York --President Obama on Friday signed an Executive Order designed to reduce cyberfraud and identity theft. The new BuySecure initiative seeks to improve payment security by encouraging the adoption of EMV chip-and-PIN systems at merchant terminals and by enhancing information sharing among consumers and stakeholders in cases of cyberfraud and identity theft.



In remarks at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the president said more than 100 million Americans have lost personal information in a data breach over the last year. He called identity theft “the fastest growing crime in the United States.”



The new policy requires newly issued and existing government credit and debit cards to be enabled with chip and personal identification number (PIN) technology.



“Retailers applaud the President’s action to advance card security," said RILA president Sandy Kennedy, who attended the signing of the White House Executive Order. “Today’s announcement should serve as a catalyst for widespread adoption of chip and PIN card security. The antiquated card security system in place today in the U.S. makes it far too easy for criminals to commit card fraud. Retailers are dedicated to protecting consumers and believe that chip and PIN technology will better shield U.S. consumers from fraud, just as it has done for consumers elsewhere around the world.”



"Retailers applaud the President’s action to advance card security," said RILA president Sandy Kennedy, who attended the signing of the White House Executive Order. “Today’s announcement should serve as a catalyst for widespread adoption of chip and PIN card security. The antiquated card security system in place today in the U.S. makes it far too easy for criminals to commit card fraud.”



The National Retail Federation also praised the move.



“We applaud the administration for taking proactive and positive steps by adopting PIN and chip technology for government-issued debit and credit cards, among other things,” stated NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay, who was also present at the signing. “This is not an issue about large retail versus small, or global financial institutions versus community banks and credit unions, or the federal government versus municipalities. We all stand together in seeking solutions to prevent criminals from accessing personal financial data regarding our customers, investors and citizens through preventable data breaches.”



A more cautious note was sounded by the PCI Security Standards Council.



“We applaud the White House for highlighting the importance of payment card security today,” said PCI general manager Stephen W. Orfei . "The PCI Security Standards Council has long been a supporter of EMV chip technology and we view it as a critical layer in any payment security strategy. EMV chip technology will button down security at the point of sale, however, it is not by itself a silver bullet for data protection. No one single technology is the answer.”



In line with the president’s announcement, American Express said it was launching a $10 million program aimed at driving U.S. small-merchant adoption of more secure check-out terminals.



The American Express program will help eligible U.S. small merchants defray the cost of new payment terminals that accept secure chip-based credit cards. The company will also provide educational resources about new security standards.



“As the largest global retail association, we applaud the program announced by American Express to provide much needed resources to ensure that our small retail members have the same line of defense against cyber criminals as our large retail members are deploying in their stores,” said Shay. “This is a great step in the right direction for consumers and retailers alike.”