President Obama announced a government plan to tighten security for debit cards that are used to disburse federal benefits such as Social Security.
In line with the announcement that Obama stressed, the White House release a statement, which read, “There is a need to act and to move our economy toward stronger, more secure technologies that better secure transactions and safeguard sensitive data.”
The first change that will be made is that the magnetic strips used in these debit cards will be replaced with an internal chip so as to reduce the potential for fraud. This is because of a growing number of cases of fraud that has affected almost 100 million consumers especially at Home Depot and Target.
Also, the government will also apply the personal identification numbers and chips to all existing and newly issued government cards and which will replace signatures as a method of verification for these cards.
However, this initiative should also encourage retailers among others in the financial industry to follow suit. So, not only will federal government facilities have terminals that accept these cards but this will also pertain to popular stores such as Walgreen, Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Obama also spoke about a program set up by American Express to help small business upgrade to more secure payment methods apart from Visa also participating in efforts to inform both customers and merchants about these new technologies.
As for those who are victims of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission has set up a website where they can not only report errors with their credit reports but also identity theft.