What’s “Chip and PIN”?

Credit card fraud and identity theft hit millions of Americans each year.

But under the President’s new BuySecure initiative, the government and the private sector are taking steps to protect American consumers. One of these steps is expanding the use of Chip and PIN technology.

Find out what Chip and PIN is all about — and see who’s joining in this effort to make our transactions safer.

Kicking off the BuySecure initiative last week, the President signed a new Executive Order that will:

• Assist victims of identity theft
• Improve the government’s payment security as a customer and a provider
• Accelerate the transition to stronger security technologies and the development of next-generation payment security tools

One key new action is the implementation of Chip and PIN technology to make card transactions more secure. With Chip and PIN, credit, debit, and other payment cards contain secure microchips instead of magnetic strips — and face-to-face transactions require consumers to type in their personal identification number (PIN), just like ATM cards.

Read more about Chip and PIN, and see other ways the Administration is helping Americans protect themselves against credit card fraud and identity theft.