It's hard to believe how some things have changed during our lifetime. Not long ago, we used to hurry home to watch our favorite shows on low-definition televisions, but now we stream high-def programing on demand through the Internet onto any device with a screen. In addition, we now have our choice of dozens of hybrid and electric cars that don't quite drive themselves yet, but may just do so in the not-too-distant future. Given the fantastic pace of innovation, what might we expect from our credit cards in the next five years?
1. Chip and PIN Everywhere
While 2015 will be the year that most merchants in the United States adopt smart-chip compatible terminals, the technological migration away from from magnetic stripes still has a way to go. Nearly all card issuers and merchants are just now using the chip-and-signature implementation, which just replaces the magnetic stripe with a more advanced microchip. So if someone steals your credit card, it can still be used fraudulently. The next step is to migrate to the chip-and-PIN standard, already in use in Europe and several other parts of the world. Only when credit card transactions require the input of a personal identification number (as ATM transactions do now) will we truly reach the next level of security.
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