Opinion: Changing the face of credit, debit card transactions

Missouri consumers and retailers should be aware of major changes that will occur this fall as tens of millions of credit and debit cards will be replaced in a national endeavor to provide more secure transactions. Banks that issue credit cards will replace the old cards that have a magnetic strip with cards that have embedded computer chips that store account data and provide additional security for consumer transactions.

The United States lags behind European countries in employing technology with additional security through chips that make it more difficult for fraudsters to duplicate credit card information. This technology has been designed by MasterCard and other major payment processing companies in a continuous effort to protect the payment system for Missouri consumers.

Retailers in Missouri and around the nation are expected to install new payment processing software by Oct. 1. After that date, retailers who continue to accept the old magnetic strip cards may have to pay for credit and debit card fraud, a shift of liability from the banks issuing the cards to the retail community.

Recent credit card security breaches, such as those at Target stores and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, have impacted Missourians, and I endorse the move by MasterCard to protect our transactions. We are grateful for MasterCard’s presence in Missouri and the economic benefits that we realize from its major processing facility in O’Fallon.

—Rep. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo, and chairwoman of the Missouri House Banking Committee

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