69% Unprepared as Deadline Looms for More Secure Credit Cards

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The credit card industry is lagging behind its own deadline to get more secure microchip-enabled credit cards into consumers' wallets by October. Just three out of every 10 U.S. credit cardholders have a chip card. The adoption rate is significantly higher among high net worth cardholders, but at 49%, it still means more than half of the richest Americans ($100,000+ in investable assets) lack the cutting-edge security feature that card issuers are eager to promote.

"While the credit card industry needs to churn out a lot more chip cards, retailers seem to be in worse shape. Very few are ready to accept chip cards," said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst.

Card issuers, not retailers, have historically been accountable for fraud. But growing losses and a series of high-profile data breaches spurred the card industry to enact an October 2015 deadline for replacing outdated magnetic stripe cards with state-of-the-art microchips. Also known as EMV cards, these have been popular overseas for many years. U.S. retailers who don't upgrade their systems to accept EMV cards by October 2015 will bear financial responsibility for fraud.

Additional findings:

• Men are more likely than women to have chip cards (36% vs. 27%).

• EMV card ownership declines steadily with age, from 43% of millennials to 21% of senior citizens.

• Residents of the West and Northeast are significantly more likely to possess a chip card than residents of the Midwest and South.

The survey was conducted by ORC International and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/wealthy-get-emv-cards-first.php

About CreditCards.com:

CreditCards.com, named a "Best Site for Managing Your Credit" by MSN Money, is a leading online credit card marketplace, bringing consumers and credit card issuers together. At its free website, consumers can compare hundreds of credit card offers from America's leading issuers and banks and apply securely, online. CreditCards.com is also a destination site for consumers wanting to learn more about credit cards. Offering advice, news, features, statistics and tools, CreditCards.com helps consumers make smart choices about credit cards. In 2014, over 22 million unique visitors used CreditCards.com to find the right credit card to suit their needs.

For More Information:

Kayleen Yates
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
[email protected] 
917-368-8677

SOURCE CreditCards.com