New Poll Reveals Consumers Lack Education, Knowledge about New Chip Credit/Debit Cards

Survey Shows Potential Security Threat as More than 75 Percent of Those Issued Chip Debit/Credit Card Mistakenly Think Chip Card Technology Protects them During Online Purchases

A new survey from CA Technologies (NASDAQ:CA) showed consumers lack knowledge and education about the new microprocessor chip credit and debit cards they have been receiving from card issuers to replace their standard magnetic stripe cards. The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CA Technologies earlier this month.

Although more than half of U.S. adults who have a credit/debit card have been issued a new chip card (59 percent), only two in five (41 percent) know what the benefits of the chip card are, and even fewer (37 percent) say their card issuer provided information or education on how to use it.

Further demonstrating the lack of knowledge and education, more than three quarters of the credit/debit card owners who have received a chip card said they believe their new chip card will better protect them from fraud during an online purchase (77 percent).

“What’s most disturbing from the survey is that people think their chip card technology will help protect them in their online purchases,” said Carol Alexander, marketing director for CA Technologies payment security business. “The fact is a more secure point-of-sale solution, which the chip cards are supposed to offer, will spark an increase in online, card-not-present fraud. We saw this phenomena in Europe and other regions who have adopted chip card technology. The strength of the U.S. e-commerce market makes card-not-present fraud an equally important security issue that card issuers and merchants need to consider in the shift to chip cards for point-of-sale transactions.”

Will New Chip Cards Influence Holiday Shopping?

With the holiday shopping season upon us and Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the days ahead, the poll showed an even mix of how those issued a chip credit/debit card who intend to shop for gifts this holiday season planned to shop. Twenty-seven percent said they would shop mostly or completely online; 25 percent said will shop mostly or completely in stores; and 47 percent said they’d spend an even mix shopping online and in store. And seven in 10 of those issued a chip credit/debit card said that the shift to chip credit and debit cards has had no/not much influence on how they will shop this holiday season (71 percent).

The new chip cards are part of the U.S. shift to the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) specifications for smart card payments and acceptance devices. The EMV specifications were developed to define a set of requirements to ensure interoperability between chip-based payment cards and terminals. EMV chip cards contain embedded microprocessors that provide strong transaction security features and other application capabilities not possible with traditional magnetic stripe cards.

This data comes just over a month after the October 1 deadline where liability for card-present fraud will shift to whichever party is the least EMV-compliant in a fraudulent transaction – the merchant or card issuer.

To learn more about card-not-present fraud, payment security and the CA Technologies survey, visit CA.com.

About this Survey

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of CA Technologies from November 4-6, 2015 among 2,071 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,101 have been issued a chip credit/debit card. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Leanne Agurkis at [e-mail] or 813-371-0692.

About CA Technologies

CA Technologies (NASDAQ:CA) creates software that fuels transformation for companies and enables them to seize the opportunities of the application economy. Software is at the heart of every business in every industry. From planning, to development, to management and security, CA is working with companies worldwide to change the way we live, transact, and communicate – across mobile, private and public cloud, distributed and mainframe environments. Learn more at www.ca.com.

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CA TechnologiesLeanne Agurkis, [e-mail]