(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Michael Montesano (R, I, C – Glen Head) today announced he is co-sponsoring legislation (A.8649A) that would require credit cards to contain state-of-the-art “smart chip” technology. Smart chips are used in over 80 countries worldwide and have had a profound effect on mitigating credit and debit card fraud. In the aftermath of the Target and Neiman Marcus hacking scandals, where millions of people’s personal information was compromised, Montesano sees this legislation as crucial to protecting New Yorkers from becoming the victims of fraud.
“Technology is evolving daily; our credit and debit cards should not be relying on a magnetic strip created in the 1960s,” said Montesano. “After millions of Americans had their personal information compromised when Target’s systems were hacked, the writing on the wall was clear: we must do more to prevent our residents from being victims of this type of fraud.
“Smart chips are used around the world and have been crucial in drastically reducing credit and debit card fraud. For too long, banks and clearinghouses have feuded over who should be responsible to implement this system. In the meantime, we have millions of people who have to spend years of their life and thousands of dollars clearing up fraudulent items on their credit history. We have the ability to utilize this technology, now is the time to actually use it.”
Smart chip technology allows a credit card user’s information to be stored on a microprocessor chip, instead of on the easier-to-hack magnetic strip currently used. The information contained on the chip is encrypted and the user’s address and PIN are not stored on the card, thus saving a person’s personal information from being stolen.
