Secure smart cards and mobile payments

Daniel Castro, of the Center for Data Innovation and the Information Technology Innovation Foundation, recently penned an opinion piece in The Hill asserting that secure smart card Chip & PIN is “old and outdated technology.” Castro could not have been more wrong. The president’s recent Executive Order on Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions wisely mandated Chip & PIN because it is an established and trusted technology used worldwide to protect consumers, retailers and the banking system from identity theft and fraud. The recent increase in domestic fraud is a consequence of the United States being the last G-20 nation to adopt this technology, making Americans an easier target for financial fraud and identity theft than foreign consumers.