The LSCU MasterCard Debit Card made the switch to the new chip-enabled card on Wednesday, August 3, 2016. Although the conversion to chip cards has been a lengthy process for most financial intuitions and businesses, this new technology brings hope to the fight against card fraud and gives cardholders a much higher level of protection than ever before.
Chip Card Rollout
For existing debit cardholders, new EMV cards will be received by mail approximately 30 days prior to their current card expiration date. This is the same process currently used for reissuing debit cards. New and replacement (lost or stolen) debit cards can be issued in-person at any of our branches. If you are traveling out of the US or have a need to switch an existing card prior to your expiration date, please contact us or stop by any branch location.
A chip card - also called a smart card or an EMV card - is a debit or credit card that contains a microprocessor that enhances the security of cards during point-of-sale transactions. These cards, already in use in much of the world, use a security standard originally developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) as a way to fight card fraud resulting from theft, skimming and counterfeiting. The EMV technology has been adopted by the other major card brands and issuers.
Tiny Chip, Big Protection
Chip cards add an additional layer of security to the safeguards that already protect cards. The chip contains information unique to the cardholder’s account and the card expiration date. It also generates a one-time code for every transaction when used with a chip-enabled terminal at the point of sale. This makes it harder for criminals to use your card information fraudulently for in-store purchases. While chip cards won’t prevent the types of large-scale data breaches that have hit some merchants, they do make it extremely difficult to produce or use counterfeit cards from that stolen data.
All About the Chip
We could go on and on about EMV chip technology, but we want to ensure you have the information you need. To discover how easy it is to use these new chip cards, just click the “learn more” button below. If you would like more details about chip technology, we’ve compiled a list of EMV FAQs just for you.
As always, we hope you find the information you need online, but we want to remind you that LSCU is more than a website. We’re your Credit Union, and we look forward to helping you. Call us at 800.588.6928 for friendly, local assistance. Better yet, stop by one of our branches for some personal service.
