U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) requested that the FBI explain why it recently revised a consumer protection advisory regarding current credit and debit smart card security technology.
The senator said he wanted to know if the FBI was taking appropriate steps to protect consumers and help deter payment card fraud involving lost or stolen cards.
“The revisions to the FBI advisory raise significant questions about whether current EMV security technology is adequately protecting consumers and whether the FBI is taking appropriate steps to warn against and deter payment card fraud involving lost or stolen cards,” Durbin said. “Did representatives of the American Bankers Association contact the FBI between the issuance of the October 8 advisory and the release of the revised advisory? If so, did the American Bankers Association request that the advisory’s recommendations for consumers and merchants to use PINs be removed?”
Earlier this month, the FBI posted an advisory stating that new cards equipped with microchip security technology were still vulnerable to fraud and that the use of Personal Identification Number (PIN) Authentication in addition to the microchip feature is far more secure than simply using a signature to verify transactions.
Five days later, the FBI issued a revised version of the advisory that no longer included the recommendations for consumers and merchants to use PINs.
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