MasterCard, Visa Form Group To Push For Better Card Security

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. said they had launched a cross-industry group to improve security for card transactions. They will press U.S. retailers and banks to meet a 2015 deadline to adopt technology that would make it safer to pay with plastic. Both credit providers are backers of fleet card services, and the move can be seen as a positive step in protecting fleets from potential fraud.

The move follows several data breaches at U.S. retailers, including one at Target Corp. late last year involving the theft of about forty million credit and debit card records. The new group - which includes banks, credit unions, retailers, and industry trade associations - will initially focus on the adoption of 'EMV' chip technology, MasterCard and Visa said in a statement on March 7.

EMV cards, already used in Europe and Asia, store information on computer chips rather than on traditional magnetic strips, making them harder to counterfeit. They can also require - depending on the issuer - that users enter a personal identification number, or PIN, to make purchases, adding an extra layer of security.

However, the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, said it had not joined the group because there were no plans to immediately implement the PIN option, making for a "half-baked solution."