What a great opportunity to send students out to the web to analyze recent articles about the new chip-enabled credit cards (and teach them about identity theft/credit card fraud in the process).  The main controversy is one that the FBI weighed in on today (before later retracting their statement which now has been deleted) (from the Verge):

The FBI has a stern warning for the credit card industry’s latest security measure, the EMV chip. In a statement today, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that the new chips don’t prevent against online fraud or point-of-sale compromises of the type seen in the Target hack. The warning emphasizes the weakness of signature-based systems (“chip and sign” rather than “chip and PIN”), and instructs merchants to require a PIN number in place of a signature wherever possible. “This fully utilizes the security features built within the EMV card,” the warning states.

Have students find additional articles and answer the following questions:

• Why has there been a shift to these new chip-enabled cards?
• Who is responsible for credit card fraud? How did that change as of October 1st?
• What risks did the FBI highlight with these new cards?
• Why did the credit card industry chose “Chip and signature” instead of “Chip and PIN?”
• What type of fraud can occur with these new cards?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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