Local bank implements new technology to promote card security

MARQUETTE — Having information stolen from your credit or debit card can turn your life into a nightmare. ABC Ten’s Caleb Scanlon has more on what a local bank is implementing a to make sure that nightmare never happens.

Range Bank has officially implemented their new EMV chip card technology to dramatically improve security and fraud protection for their customers. The computer chip generates a unique transaction code every time the card is used, providing an extra layer of sophisticated security.

“You can use your new chip card at any store, merchant or atms,” said Range Bank Compliance and Security Officer Glenn Johnson, “the card comes with a magnetic strip on the back so if a merchant or store isn’t chip ready at that particular terminal you can still use your mag stripe. Basically with the new terminals, you insert the chip card into the new terminal and then it’s going to encrypt the information, making it virtually impossible to counterfeit.”

The chip cards are relatively new to the United States and have been successfully used in other countries for several years. The importance for having this kind of security is equally important to smaller areas like Marquette county as it is in a big city.

“It’s very important, because we’ve seen or experienced debit card fraud locally,” added Johnson, “many of the fraudsters and criminals are located overseas and they don’t care if the customer or consumer is from Chicago, Detroit or anywhere. They just see a bank and that’s where they go, that’s who they go after. So it’s very important. We are effected here in the U.P.”

For more information on the new EMV chip cards, click here.