What are chip cards?

A chip card – also called a smart card or an EMV card – is a debit or credit card that contains a microprocessor that enhances the security of cards during point-of-sale transactions.

These cards, already in use in much of the world, use a security standard originally developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) as a way to fight card fraud resulting from theft, skimming and counterfeiting. The EMV technology has been adopted by the other major card brands and issuers.