Gemalto Chippin' In with Venezuelan Bank Card Leaders

Gemalto teams with Venezuelan bank card market leaders to accelerate EMV migration

Digital security provider Gemalto is teaming up with Corporación Cardtech, Venezuela’s largest supplier of magnetic stripe bank cards, and Newtech Solutions, a consulting and technical support organization that specializes in EMV to help banks in Venezuela move to the new, smart credit card that will better protect their customers from fraud and identity theft.  Under the new agreement, banks in Venezuela working with the two companies will have access to expertise, consulting services, smart cards and technology from Gemalto. The partners estimate that eight million cards will be issued in the first year, starting in June 2009. Close to 16 million debit and credit cards are currently in use in Venezuela.

"Venezuelan banks are faced with constantly increasing card fraud, mostly due to illegal copying of magnetic stripe information to create “cloned” credit cards. The problem, that affects all of Latin America, has led to a liability shift which penalizes card issuers and merchants that do not issue or accept EMV cards. This liability change for non-EMV cards becomes effective in Venezuela starting July 2009."

EMV cards, also known as Chip and PIN, include a microprocessor and software with security features that work together with the payment transaction authorization network to prevent card fraud and identity theft. Unlike with magnetic stripe only cards, smart card based transactions cannot be easily cloned, which is a primary source of fraud throughout Latin America.

Editor's Note:  While it's true that they can't be cloned and easily used" at a retail location, they  certainly can  be  "easily" cloned and used online.  This is because the magstripe is still present on the back of the smart cards and that is what is "lifted" when cloning a card.

That, in large part, is why UK Fraud is 14 times higher overseas, (see related stories below) and why 1 in 4 Brits have experienced credit or debit card fraud.  (and why Gemalto wants EMV in the US.)  Online Transactions (web based) are currently (and HATM can change that) Card Not Present transactions.

So in order to protect both online shoppers and online retailers, online (PIN) debit should be utilized.  HomeATM is the only provider of such a solution  which has been deemed both PCI 2.0 compliant, and offers "End to End Encryption" on all of it's PIN Based Transactions. 

In addition, HATM is EMV ready and it's personal swiping device transforms Card Not Present transactions into Card Present transactions, adding a layer of security with two factor authentication. (what you have and what you know, the card and the PIN respectively)

HATM's end-to-end encryption protects the consumers PIN throughout the whole transaction, as it is NEVER in the clear.     

For more information on how HomeATM's PIN Based Transactions can benefit your organization, visit www.homeatm.net

Related articles by the PIN Debit Payments Blog

• UK Fraud 14 Times Higher Oversea's
• Gemalto Wants EMV in USA (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• Chipping Away at Credit Card Fraud (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• 65% of Irish Websites Put Cardholder Data at Risk (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• Today Show Credit Card Skimming Video (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• Chip and PIN Coming to Dubai (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• Interac Chip and PIN Transition Rollout Begins (pindebit.blogspot.com)
• Canada's EMV Transition Numbers (pindebit.blogspot.com)