You've probably seen advertisement for cutting-edge credit cards with small chips. Instead of swiping a magnetic strip credit card, the customer in the commercial would put in the chip into a terminal or flash the chip in Square Credit Card Reader For Ipad of a reader and enter a PIN number. But what are EMV cards, and why should we be using them? EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa. EMV chips were introduced to help reduce fraud. According to Businessweek, the chips are harder to hack and counterfeit than regular striped credit cards. Here are 5 reasons you should switch to an EMV card and why merchants should switch to EMV terminals ASAP: # 1: EMV Cards are Smarter It could not look like much, but every one of those little gold chips on an EMV card contains an embedded microprocessor, a sort of small computer that offers solid security features and other capabilities not possible with typical magnetic stripe cards, according toEMVCo. When inserted into a terminal, the reader is able to exchange data with the card easier. With contactless EMV cards, the reader reads the chip and allows an exchange of data via radio frequency without having the card ever leaving behind the customer's hand. Research has shown that a contactless transaction can be approximately 53% faster than a conventional magnetic stripe credit card payment, and 63% much faster than making use of cash. # 2: EMV Cards are More secure EMV cards are taken into consideration more secure since it's harder to copy account numbers and security codes from chips than from magnetic strip cards. EMV cards also create a unique code for each transaction, making them more difficult to hack or counterfeit. # 3: EMV Cards are Becoming Much more Easily accessible in the United States It's taken long than data security professionals would have liked, but EMV cards are slowly becoming more accessible in the U.S. Most major credit card companies are now making credit cards with EMV chips, like the Chase with their Sapphire Preferred Card, along with American Express and Citi Bank, according to NerdWallet. # 4: EMV Cards are the International Standard If you're going on vacation in Asia or Europe, you better have a EMV credit card. EMV cards are the standard worldwide, to the point where some merchants no longer accept our magnetic striped cards. According to Businessweek, companies have been slow to embrace the a lot more secure payment systems that have been widely used in Europe and Asia for years, mostly because of the cost and a lack of synchronization among sellers, credit card providers, and financial institutions. # 5: By October 2015, Merchants That do not Take EMV Will be Held Liable for Counterfeit Fraud According to Forbes, merchants and retailers have until October 2015 to upgrade to EMV systems. If they do not change by that time, credit card networks will, "... hold that an issuer or merchant who does not support EMV will assume the liability for counterfeit card transactions. If a merchant has not embraced, at least, the contact chip terminals and a contact chip card is presented, liability for counterfeit fraud will move to the merchant's acquirer." So if you're a merchant, that means you would be held liable for any fraud that occurs to a customer's EMV chip card. So switching to a EMV credit card and terminal is a fantastic idea for customers and merchants alike, especially by 2015. Go to: http://wyzemerchant.com/square-payments-equipment/