Few have new credit cards with chips, poll finds

Even as an Oct. 1 deadline approaches to replace Americans’ out-of-date credit cards with new cards embedded with computer chips, the vast majority of Americans still have not received their new cards and only a small minority are using the chips at all, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

The poll finds that roughly 1 in 10 Americans have received the new chip-enabled credit cards. Of those who have received the cards, only one-third say they’ve actually used the cards as intended in new specialized credit card readers.

In an effort to combat mounting credit card fraud, U.S. banks are making a push to replace the magnetic-stripe credit cards Americans use with new ones that have tiny computer chips embedded in them, which are far more secure.

The older type of cards, long since phased out in other major countries, have become easy targets for thieves, who have found multiple ways to exploit the security flaws in the decades-old magnetic stripe technology.

The chip cards, which have been used in Europe and elsewhere for more than a decade, transmit a one-time code when they’re inserted into a card-reading device to make a purchase. Even if the code is stolen, thieves can’t use it to make other purchases.

The new chip cards can’t prevent a thief using a person’s stolen credit card information to make fraudulent purchases online, however.

The new poll shows Americans are more likely to say they’re very concerned about their personal information being secure when making purchases online (45 percent) than in stores (38 percent).

In 2012, Visa, MasterCard and other payment processors set a soft deadline of Oct. 1, 2015, for merchants to have their equipment changed to accept the new cards. The new chip-enabled cards also come with magnetic stripes, and many users are still swiping them just like they always have. The new cards require users to insert their card into an ATM-like slot in a card reader for several seconds.

Briana Thompson, a college student in northwest Ohio, said she received her new card around Christmas.

“I remember going ‘Oh, wow, the card looks cool,’ ” Thompson said. “But I haven’t had a chance to use the chip. I haven’t encountered a merchant who accepts them.”