Bank card with chip and magnetic stripe. Bank plastic cards with a chip: advantages and differences from cards with a magnetic stripe

Plastic cards with a microprocessor are ordinary plastic cards. The production of chip cards is carried out using the same technologies, only instead of a magnetic strip with information, a special microprocessor is built into the cards. Such a chip is actually a small computer. Bank plastic cards with chip used to store any type of information - the number of services received, history of banking transactions, etc. Chip cards are highly functional and most often combine two functions of a plastic card – identification and payment.

Plastic cards with chips are divided into contact and contactless. Contact plastic chip cards must be applied to the reader, i.e. To transmit information to microprocessors, physical contact with a special device is required. This can be avoided by using contactless chip cards. It is enough for such cards to be within the reader’s coverage area and transmit all the necessary information via radio signal. Accordingly, the service life of contact cards is not as long, unlike contactless chips.

There is an opinion that chip cards actually have many undeniable advantages over their magnetic counterparts. It is not difficult to distinguish a microprocessor card from a regular one: a metal square is soldered into it; in fact, this is the chip on which all information about the bank account is stored. On a traditional plastic card, this information is encrypted on a magnetic strip. It is easy to fake such a strip for criminal purposes; all you need is a skimmer - a special device that reads information from the card.

An electronic microprocessor uses a much more complex protection algorithm, and information from the chip cannot be copied with a skimmer. The production of counterfeit magnetic cards in the world is now established almost on an industrial scale, but no cases of counterfeit microprocessor cards have yet been recorded. A transaction generated by a magnetic card always has the same data identifying the card, which is transmitted to the bank. Therefore, they can be copied and a fake card made. A microprocessor card works differently: each transaction is confirmed by a code specially generated for it, and for each subsequent operation it is required new code. Therefore, using data from transactions that have already taken place does not make sense, and it is virtually impossible to duplicate the chip.

Nowadays, “pure” chip cards are rarely produced in the world. So far, only combined “plastic” is simulated - it contains both a microprocessor and a magnetic stripe. They do not dare to switch to a microprocessor only due to the lack of a full-fledged infrastructure for servicing such cards. Such combination cards, given their high level of security compared to a regular plastic card, should in theory be more expensive. And for a bank, producing a microprocessor costs much more than issuing a card with a magnetic stripe. However, the annual service fee for combination cards is no different from the prices for regular cards. Banks do not charge additional fees for the chip, but they also do not provide additional services, although they could easily do so. Various programs can be installed on the microprocessor built into the card at the discretion of the bank’s marketers and its technical capabilities.

Currently bank plastic cards with chip are increasingly replacing traditional plastic cards with a magnetic stripe. Increasingly, banks are giving preference to cards with a microprocessor, primarily due to their resistance to hacking.

Maria Kshevitskaya,

appearance

lately

Bank cards with chips are very similar to regular (familiar) credit cards. They have common characteristics:

Made exclusively from environmentally friendly materials;
They all go through personalization;
They also meet international standards.

The main difference is the presence of a microcontroller, which contains all the necessary information about the account and its owner. This is a kind of miniature computer. In addition to the fact that a credit card with a microprocessor performs its financial functions, it also identifies its owner.

Credit card with chip
(circled in red)

Species

Today there are several types:

Contactless. When performing any transaction using this means of payment, it is not necessary for the card to be in contact with the reader. It is enough for her to be somewhere nearby.
Contact. This option requires direct contact with terminals or ATMs.

Advantages

The main feature of such a modern payment method is the reliability and safety of their use. It would be impossible for a fraudster to hack such a card. The thing is that information is written to the chip using very complex algorithms. That's why it's coded in various ways. It is simply impossible to reproduce all the information again, as well as completely copy it. So far there has not been a single case of hacking.

Credit card without chip
with magnetic stripe

Why didn't everyone switch?

A credit card with a microprocessor is protected from fraud and is incredibly easy to use. However, not all banks can offer their clients such means of payment. And people are not particularly eager to become their owners. What is this connected with? There are several reasons for this:

Not all retail chains are equipped with devices that process such cards. In order to moderate all ATMs, it will take not only a lot of time, but also a lot of money.
The production of bank cards with a microcontroller is quite expensive. Not all financial organizations ready to spend for the sake of clients.

Chip credit cards have confidently appeared on the Russian financial market. Every year their number is increasing. Accordingly, some banks are trying to keep up with the times and modernize their equipment to satisfy the wishes of their customers. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the introduction of chip credit cards is only a matter of some time.

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Cards

Holders of chipped bank cards are accustomed to the fact that a PIN code is required when performing a transaction. But in some cases, store cashiers not only do not ask the buyer to enter the coveted four digits, but they don’t even need the owner’s signature on the receipt. Is this a violation - in the material on the site

Experts say that it is preferable for a bank client to issue a card with a chip rather than a regular one with a magnetic stripe. Chip cards are considered more secure - they can store more information and have a longer service life. “All chip cards are EMV standard cards. This is an international standard developed by Europay, MasterCard and VISA to increase the level of card security, explains Head of the payment operator company “Billing Systems” Andrey Rychkov. – The chip in a bank card is a microcomputer on one chip. The issuing bank writes restrictions on the use of the card on it. For example, it sets restrictions on the territory where the card is valid or indicates limits on withdrawing money from the card outside the home region. It also states priorities in relation to the EMV standard when reading a card - with a PIN code request or with a signature confirmation request. According to the expert, some banks assign a non-strict priority to the request for a PIN code when conducting a transaction. In this case, when the cashier swipes the card through the payment terminal, there is no prompt for a PIN and it is read in the same way as a magnetic stripe card. “It turns out that when purchasing a card with a chip, a bank client expects additional protection of his own funds, but does not receive it,” the interlocutor confirms his fears. – To be fair, I note that a number of banks still leave the opportunity for the client to independently change priorities. This can be done through an ATM.”

At the same time, Andrey Rychkov notes that if your card is accepted for payment without requesting a PIN code, the cashier is required to request an identification document and a sample signature. “But in reality, at best, 1% of transactions are requested for a passport. People are asked to sign a check much more often. But comparing a signature with a sample on a card is an extremely rare phenomenon,” the interlocutor complains.

The irresponsible attitude of cashiers even gave rise to new look fraud: after paying for a service or product, card users who were not asked for identification documents request the bank to cancel the transaction and return cash for services already provided.

Andrey Rychkov gives an example from practice:
Yulia, client of Bank A,. I noticed that when paying for services through a POS terminal, she is not asked for a PIN code. The girl decided to find out what the reason was. The bank explained: the similarity of the signature on the card and the check is a priority. If this situation does not suit the client, she can change the priority from signature to entering a PIN code at any ATM of the bank. But again, not all payment terminals will ask for a code, since other banks are involved in setting up the terminals.

“If the card has a chip, but a transaction was carried out on it without entering a PIN code, the client can challenge it and return the funds,” says VTB24 manager in the Perm region Svetlana Shchegoleva.

When is a PIN code and signature not needed?

It turns out that there are still situations when it is possible to pay by card without entering a PIN code and without obtaining the client’s signature.

As explained in Ecoprombank, on most terminals when making payments using a chip, it is possible to refuse to enter a PIN code. “This is usually used by retail outlets with a large flow of customers in order to speed up the process of serving customers and reduce queues at the checkout counters,” noted the bank’s press service. – A terminal configured in this way allows you to make payments to the client without using communication with the bank that issued the card (the so-called offline mode). At the same time, the settings always provide for the maximum permissible transaction threshold, for example, when purchasing for more than 1000 rubles, the terminal will ask the client to enter a PIN code.”

In this case, the store takes upon itself the risks of possible use of a lost card. It is more profitable for a store to serve as many customers as possible, compared to the hypothetical risk of using a lost card.

The threshold of 1,000 rubles was also mentioned in the West Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia. Together with one of the Perm retail chains, the bank began implementing a project aimed at stimulating non-cash payments. A number of supermarkets have introduced the Quick Payment Service or Small Ticket technology of the VISA and MasterCard payment systems. In accordance with the rules of international payment systems, in trading establishments classified as “Supermarkets” it is allowed to carry out transactions for payment of purchases by card in the amount of up to 1000 rubles without entering a PIN code or the cardholder’s signature on the receipt. “It is completely safe for the client: all card transactions are carried out strictly using certified technologies and on certified equipment and receive online confirmation from the issuing bank,” assures Deputy Chairman of the West Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia OJSC Vasily Palatkin.

We would like to add that to control personal finances, all experts advise activating the SMS notification service so that any debit from a bank card is accompanied by a message. And it’s still worth picking up the payment receipt, and not throwing it at the checkout.

Speaking about this payment instrument, we will have to compare it with its usual analogue, equipped with a magnetic stripe. Actually, this is the main difference.

What is a chip? This is a microprocessor similar in appearance to a SIM card for mobile phone. To put it simply, the chip card has a soldered-in minicomputer. Visa specialists say that “plastic” with a microprocessor holds 80 times more information than its magnetic “brother”.

It turns out that such a tool can combine many programs. That is, one chip card is a salary, a loan, and social benefits, and debit “plastic” (in different currencies), and a travel card, and a bonus accumulator, and an identity card...

Death to scammers

Security is one of the main arguments in favor of a chip product. The fact is that all account information is contained on a magnetic stripe and on a chip. But in computer “plastic” this data is encrypted using complex digital codes and cannot be considered a simple skimmer.

In addition, a magnetic stripe transaction always has the SAME data that is sent to the bank. But a chip transaction is confirmed by a special code, which is always DIFFERENT. Therefore, even if the scammers managed to fake the chip, nothing will happen to them. Good theory, right? Now let's return to the harsh Russian reality.

Chip card: two in one or a fly in the ointment

Imagine getting into your car and driving to work. Along the way we decided to refuel. But here’s the problem - all the gas stations suddenly disappeared. And in their place are stations serving only electric vehicles.

A rough comparison, but it gets the point across. Refusing cards with a magnetic stripe is an extremely difficult task, as the leader used to say. Too much is tied to them. The transition to chip cards is accompanied by updating equipment or completely replacing it at a time when the end of the depreciation period is still far away, as well as the development and installation of software.

In general, all this is very, very expensive. Therefore, banks in Russia issue combined cards containing both a magnetic stripe and a chip. That is, if the terminal in the store is not configured to service chip cards, then the operation is carried out using a magnetic stripe (and the risk is relevant again, the chip will not help here).

Please note that any operation using a card with a chip always requires entering a PIN code. Many customers do not like this and they believe that they themselves can choose, while standing in the store, to perform an operation using a chip or a magnetic stripe.

This is wrong. Priority will always be given to the microprocessor. If the terminal at a point of sale accepts chip cards, but the cashier tries to roll the “plastic” along the magnetic strip, then nothing will work.

Now the most interesting thing is the cost. Bankers claim that cards with a chip cost the same as magnetic cards. Is this true?

Chip cards - how much is opium for the people?

Let us compare the conditions that present moment banks offer. Thus, the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development equips all cards, starting with Visa Classic and MasterCard Standard, with a chip. For an instant credit card (Unembossed class) for a period of 3.5 years, the client will not pay anything, for a two-year chip “plastic” (Classic and Standard) you will have to pay 450 rubles, and for a “gold” card with a chip - 1,500 rubles.

Sberbank equips all its cards (except instant, Electron with Maestro and American Express payment system instruments) with a chip. Sberbank has a striking unity: a chip credit card and a similar debit card (Classic and Standard), as well as an instant credit card without a chip, cost 750 rubles a year.

Russian Standard is not yet in a hurry to pamper its clients. Only Gold cards are equipped with a chip, the service of which costs 3,000 rubles. But OTP Bank does not issue chip cards at all.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the Visa and MasterCard payment systems see the future in chip and contactless cards. Therefore, sooner or later they will force banks to update their equipment. And very soon all cards will have a chip.

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