PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) are those ubiquitous numbers we all know. They are used to authenticate cardholders, protecting personal accounts and issuers from fraudulent activities. The technology used in the creation, use, and management of PINs can be overwhelming and confusing.
While the rest of the world embraces EMV and its Chip and PIN technology, the current US market remains primarily in the magnetic stripe realm. In fact, within the network environments, only the Debit/ATM networks deal with PINS. As the US migrates towards EMV, changes to the network environments will need to take place in order to ensure the security of "online" PIN exchanges. These changes will have a greater effect on the Credit networks that have minimal encryption processing and no PIN processing.
