President Obama has ordered that the government use credit and debit cards that use an embedded chip instead of the magnetic strip. By using a chip that uses Near Field technology and a PIN number it makes it very hard to duplicate the information on the card and thus it is a very safe way to prevent a high tech theft. This will force Visa/Mastercard/American Express to have terminals at stores that can be used with this technology.

By having government workers use cards with Near Field technology the worries about card duplication are next to nil and it is a tested and secure technology. In fact both Apple and Google use this technology to enable smartphone users to buy items at some stores. Hopefully with the government mandate to use this technology it will be available in most stores in the near future. The credit card companies have been reluctant to install terminals with Near Field capability because of the cost of replacing the card swipe terminals. Now they have an incentive to do what they should have done in the first place. Otherwise they could lose a lot of government business and that would be bad for them to lose a very lucrative source of income.

And for those who feel that this technology would make it easy to copy the data in your credit/debit card just by a person passing near you, don’t worry about that happening. Yes this technology is wireless, but it has a very short range (about ¾” to 1 3/16”) making it very hard for someone going by you to read the data on the chip, plus when combined with a PIN number it would be near impossible to use the data even if they could get it.

Both Apple and Google have smartphone based programs that can do the same thing as a chip type credit/debit card. Apple’s is called Apple Pay and for now it is only on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. When you pay your credit card number is not given instead a one time unique number is generated for the transaction. No static credit card number is used making it hard for anyone to steal your information making it a secure way to pay. Unfortunately it is only available in a small number of stores for now.

While Google’s is called Google Wallet and works with any Android smartphone with Near Field technology and runs Gingerbread or higher. While it does not make a unique number for each transaction it does require you to enter a PIN, so it is as secure as a card is. It can be used anywhere Near Field technology is available.

With the government mandate and the two competing smartphone applications we should be seeing more of this technology being used at checkout. I myself had a credit card a few years back that had the chip and a magnetic strip. I liked the ease of use of just waving the card versus swiping it. Unfortunately when I was sent a new card it did not have the chip and my credit card company said maybe in the future. Well now the swipe might be out and the wave maybe in. And now with these smartphone apps using this technology it will be even sooner for you to see it in stores near you.

So, lets all practice the wave and forget about the swipe.  Hmm.. that brings to mind a song; maybe another time.

That is my opinion – Jumpin Jersey Mike