[lug] OT: Credit Cards w/ Chips

[Davide Del Vento]

I used to have an account with an Italian bank. Some time ago they stopped
issuing swipable cards, they went chip-only (they were issuing cards with
both chips and magnetic stripes for years, at that time). About a year ago,
my card-with-both-chip-and-magnetic-stripe expired and the replacement was
chip-only. I've never been able to use it in the USA, IIRC not even online.
Long story short, I had to close that account, since I could not find any
way to pull money out of it. That's all I know about your question.

<rant>
The whole credit card approach to payment is totally flawed. Regardless of
chips, it's like going to a store and instead of handing the cash at
checkout, you hand the other party (or a man-in-the-middle) the whole
wallet and trust them to only pick the amount they claim they'll pick. In
the USA, people tend to me more honest than somewhere else in the world,
so, it's seldom a problem (and when is a problem, credit card companies
cover that -- which is not always the case for cards issued in Italy).
However I still don't think is the right model. One should be able to make
business with people they don't trust, with little fear of
man-in-the-middle.

The right model would be something more similar to the "wiring funds" (or
bitcoins, if you will): the store tells the customers "where" and they put
the money there for the store to grab, like what I do in stores when I pay
cash. Man-in-the-middle can still steal money, but only what is on the
desk, the bad guy cannot take a whole account because the customer spent $3
at target on the wrong day.
</rant>

On Fri, May 15, 2015 at 12:36 PM, Maxwell Spangler <
maxlists at maxwellspangler.com> wrote:

>  I received an Amazon/Chase VISA card recently with a chip on it.
>
> While I know this is not guarantee of my credit card's security, it's a
> step in the right direction.
>
> However, I have yet to find an place where I can use it.
>
> Terminals with chip reader hardware exist at Target, King Soopers and many
> other places where I shop, but when I stick my card in, I get no response
> and have to swipe.
>
> Does anyone know anything about this?
>
> Posting here because this list has security aware people who may be able
> to share some backstory about the enabling of chip cards in 2015.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>    --
> Maxwell Spangler
> ========================================================================
> Boulder, Colorado, USA
> http://www.maxwellspangler.com/ <http://www.maxwellspangler.com/pen>
>
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