Spurred by major data breaches at Target and other stores, the US banking and retail sectors are turning to more secure microchip-based EMV payment cards, causing US shipments of these cards to rise by more than a factor of fifteen seven by 2019.
The US is moving to EMV
US shipments of microchip-enabled payment cards that comply with the Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) standard will expand to 344 million units in 2019, up from 23 million in 2013, according to IHS Technology, a research firm. EMV card shipments this year alone will surge by 230% to 76 million units.
Since the Target security lapse in November and December of 2013, the company has expedited plans to issue chip and PIN-enabled store credit cards to replace the magnetic-stripe cards involved in the breach. In March, Target announced an accelerated $100 million plan to move its REDcard portfolio to chip and PIN technology. Target plans to have chip and PIN technology installed in all stores in the US by this September, six months ahead of schedule.
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