Chip Card (EMV) FAQs

A chip card uses an embedded microchip rather than a magnetic stripe to authenticate payments, providing strong transaction security features and other application capabilities not possible with traditional magnetic-stripe cards. Chip cards also are known as EMV cards.

It is an abbreviation of Europay, MasterCard and Visa, which have worked closely with Discover and others in the payments industry to spearhead the payments standard.

Convenience while consumers travel is one additional benefit. Many other countries already have adopted the EMV standard, so cardholders can use their new chip card when they travel and it will work seamlessly with the global payments infrastructure.

We have a lot of security precautions in place to protect against fraud. The chip card offers a higher level of security for chip-enabled point-of-sale transactions, but current cards will continue to be secure – especially if cardholders keep their PIN a secret, regularly monitor card activity and immediately report lost or stolen cards.

Chip cards increase security and reduce fraud resulting from counterfeit, lost and stolen cards.

The new cards will be mailed to cardholders when their current card is set to expire.  The expiration month and year can be found on the cardholder’s current debit card.

Yes. If cardholders would like a chip card before their current debit card expires, they can request a new card at any time. 

Yes. For the foreseeable future, chip cards will continue to feature a magnetic stripe so they work on older payment terminals and ATMs.

Yes, cardholders will insert the chip card into the reader. The card stays in the terminal during the transaction, similar to the way some ATMs work today. If cardholders swipe a chip card’s magnetic stripe on a terminal turned on to read chip cards, the terminal may require them to insert their card into the chip reader. Cardholders will also need to remember to pocket their card when done. Online purchases are conducted in the same way as magnetic stripe cards today.

No additional cardholder fees apply to the new chip card versus our current magnetic stripe cards.