[mbreese]

Mag stripe readers are everywhere, but the banks have already started migrating over to chip and pin cards (with mag-stripe for backwards compatibility) for new issues. There are still older cards out there that won't expire for probably ~5 years or so, so I expect to see mag stripe readers around for at least that long. But it's fair to call it deprecated, even in the US.

However, the transition is coming to the US sooner rather than later. Banks want to see this transition happen quickly so that they can reduce fraud rates. Merchants that don't want to spend money on new terminals will be prodded along by the banks pushing fraud liability over to them.

This all ultimately means that this iteration of the Coin Card (mag-stripe only) has a pretty limited shelf life.

[dandelany]

I keep hearing this, but I got a new Capital One card in the mail literally 2 weeks ago, and still no chip. Same with my Schwab card which is < a year old. I don't get it. (I live in New York FWIW)

[stephengillie]

If my bank (credit union) has transitioned to chip-and-pin, they have done so without telling me.

The cards they issue are pressed at the main branch; I had to wait while they printed my latest card. The process they use to print doesn't emboss the card - the little numbers don't stick up - and as such they have nearly rubbed off from the card.

I got that most recent card in September of 2012, and it's already wearing out; the magnetic stripe hasn't been reliable for 6 months, and the numbers are so worn off the front that cashiers have trouble hand-entering it. It doesn't even have the Mastercard NFC antenna.

I really, really doubt that most of the USA's banks are anywhere near ready for a transition.

[mbreese]

I got a new card (2 years early) to replace a card with an NFC chip. This was Wells Fargo, so bigger than a credit union. I got the replacement, but my wife didn't. I originally had an NFC card, whereas she didn't. I think that the fact that the first NFC translation in a long time was made a few weeks earlier at an airport may have had something to do with the timing.

Regardless, the changeover has already started. It may take a few years to be complete, but the writing is on the wall.

[tallanvor]

Some small banks will take longer than others to get ready, but many have already started sending out cards with chips when it's time for you to get a new one.

The silly thing is that the US is mostly standardizing on chip and signature, which means that if your card is stolen, it's still easy for criminals to use it until you're able to block it.

[CaptainZapp]

From October the merchant is responsible for fraud if the card has no chip and he accepts it.

Be prepared for a lot of merchants not willing to take that risk and to decline your card if it has a mag stripe only.

[Domenic_S]

Yep, my latest Amex came with a chip, and when I tried to swipe the mag strip at WalMart (don't you judge me) the reader actually said "Must insert card" which was really confusing until I noticed it had a chip reader. Pretty cool.

[joezydeco]

Target has very quietly replaced all of their terminals with chip/pin readers. It looks like they started shortly after their huge data breach, which makes sense.

[scintill76]

At least when I researched about a year ago, it's uncommon to get a true chip-and-PIN in the US. Most of the chips are chip-and-signature.

[stephengillie]

How is chip-and-signature different from the current policy where the buyer (sometimes, decreasingly) has to sign for credit purchases?

[scintill76]

I think it's just that it's more resistant to card cloning. The payment terminal makes the chip authenticate itself in some way that run-of-the-mill carders with a card printer and magstripe writer can't counterfeit. I guess the chip or the payment network then request the cardholder's signature, rather than the PIN that chip-and-PIN use.