The problem with ATM cards and Credit Cards in the U.S.

I was talking to my son today and he was saying it is not only Credit Cards in the U.S. that are a problem because of world wide hackers. He said it is about technology upgrades that for example most countries like Korea, Japan and China have already done. They, for example, have put chips in almost all ATM cards and Credit Cards which makes it almost infinitely harder to hack than what most ATM cards and Credit Cards in the U.S. have.

But, it is mostly that since 2008 and the Great Recession most companies in the U.S.  (both banks and retail) do not want to invest in chips in Credit cards or ATM cards or the more expensive point of sale equipment to read and process those cards for everyone. On top of that most ATM cards are still based upon XP which is an outmoded Windows System now. So, until retailers and Banks are willing to upgrade their infrastructure I think a whole lot more savvy people are going to be withdrawing cash from ATMS at their banks and buying things with cash more at the very least at Target and Michaels stores across the U.S. and any other point of sale chain of store that has been hacked already.

Otherwise, ATM cards and Credit Cards in the U.S.  without embedded chips are not safe enough against worldwide hackers at this point. (At least not safe enough to protect your identities and credit card numbers and home addresses from various worldwide hackers, some associated with world governments and some not).

It is better to be forewarned and forearmed about this kind of thing than to have your money and identity stolen because you didn't know about this.

But, even if chips are put into ATMS and Credit Cards all across the U.S. some hackers will be able to penetrate those too ( only much less of them). In the end it is doing what is most cost effective for you, the banks and retail outlets. Right now, it is all about bank insurance and retail insurance for this kind of problem which is expensive for them. But, if it increases too much then you are going to see banks and retail outlets go with higher and higher levels of security within technology over the next 100 or more years.