Originally Posted by
garyschmitt
What european bank issues cards without a magstrip? Every European card I've seen has a magstrip (as will the emerging EMV cards in the US). These hybrid cards have all the same vulnerabilities of the magstrip card in addition to the vulnerabilities of the EMV cards.
Chip and pin/magstrip hybrid cards offer convenience, not security. Until the magstrip is removed, the hybrid cards are obviously less secure.
Hybrid cards are no less secure than magstrip cards. In countries that mandate chip support (EU/UK), they provide greater security as the chip aspect significantly decreases the chance the transaction was conducted using the actual card (not a clone). Accepting a signature for a chip-and-pin card in these locations is a good indicator for fraud.
Once all cards are hybrids, and all terminals accept EMV/Chips, we can remove magstrips and everything becomes a lot more secure. No more cloning cards. This is a very long process, but it will pay off in the end.
It is still possible to physically copy all the important details and use for internet transactions, assuming we haven't smartened up by then and require additional checks for 'card-not-present' transactions (e.g. properly matching billing address, or some form of 2 factor authentication better than the 'verified by visa' passwords and 'mastercard mastercode' that we have now).