What’s up with those chip cards and will we be using them at gas pumps?

We’ve all seen them.  In fact, we all have them in our wallet or purse.  Over the past two years our credit card providers have replaced our old cards with a card containing a tiny square “chip” embedded in the card.  And we’ve been using them in traditional indoor points of purchase like grocery stores, clothing retailers, post offices, fast food stores, etc. for over a year now.  The chip card was introduced as a way to reduce credit card fraud because that black strip on the back of your card (go ahead, pull out your card and look at it) held all of your personal information and could easily be copied.  The reason that chip cards are more secure is that the chip creates a different and unique transaction code each time you use it and it’s impossible to copy.  Now if you lose your card or it is stolen people can still use it until you cut it off.  But the bad guys can no longer copy your card and make a duplicate of it.

While the vast majority of indoor point of sale terminals have already been upgraded with chip card reading terminals we are only now starting to see activated terminals at gas pumps.  While D&H United has been installing these new card readers (and new dispensers) for several years it has taken the Point-of-Sale companies and the card networks a long time to develop, test, and certify their software.  Consequently, gas pumps are way behind the other places where we typically use credit cards.  So how do I know if my gas pump has these new readers?  The first thing that you will notice about the new readers is that the clamp down on the card while it is checking the security of your card.  Once that’s finished they will then release their hold on the card and tell you to remove it.  Here’s a fun fact.  Try to start pumping gas while you card is still in the reader.  Won’t do it.  The design of the system is such that it makes you take the card out of the reader before you start fueling.  That way, you won’t forget your card and drive off.  Pretty smart, huh?

With the new card reader deadline of April 15 quickly approaching our service teams have been very busy installing new dispensers and new card readers.  It’s been great business for us and were happy to help our customers make sure that their customers have a secure fueling experience.