WASHINGTON, DC, 2014-2-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from President and CEO Matthew Shay in response to the announcement by JPMorgan Chase & Co. that the bank will issue its Europay MasterCard Visa credit cards as PIN and Chip cards. The bank has previously issued the cards only as chip-and-signature.
“Use of a PIN is absolutely essential to providing merchants and their customers with the full extent of protection available from chip-based cards. The chip authenticates that a card isn’t a counterfeit but it’s the PIN that ensures the card is being used by its actual owner and not a thief scrawling an illegible signature. Chip-and-signature cards just don’t offer the level of protection needed to help stop criminal hackers from making money off payment card data. NRF has encouraged uniform use of PIN and Chip for years, and urged Chase in recent meetings to make full use of the double layer of protection these cards offer. We’re pleased that they have seen the advantage of doing that and hope Chase will issue all of its new cards as PIN and Chip. The networks and issuing banks should follow their lead and do the same.”
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. www.nrf.com
Contact: J. Craig Shearman or Bethany Aronhalt (855) NRF-PRESS
press@nrf.com
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