Originally Posted by
jmr50
I think it's a simpler explanation: European and other countries had a problem with fraud. The fraud was expensive, so they invested in chip and pin and it addressed the problem. The US solved the problem with a different technology solution: all-online authorization. Given that transaction volumes are so much higher in the US on a per-consumer basis, it isn't unreasonable to see a different solution, but the split is starting to cause real problems for consumers who travel abroad, and US banks need to step up to solve this for us.
That's a great explanation, but take it farther:
- Of the 686 million Visa cards issued, how many are used by (frequent, regular) international travelers?
- Of that population, how many regard the status quo as a problem?
- Of those, what's the median value they're willing to pay for a fix? (I wouldn't pay $10 annually as I don't view work-arounds as that troublesome for my volume of transactions.)
One sees pretty quickly why U.S. banks haven't spent $ Billions to copy the smartchip scheme.