As holiday shoppers brave the crowds in the malls this holiday season, there is a new way for them to make sure they are moving through the checkout more quickly – by making sure they know the PIN for their chip card. Canadian financial institutions have been rolling out credit cards with chip technology for over a year so many of the Visa cards in Canada now have chip and PIN technology.

Visa Canada says that it’s important to remember that your chip card and your personal identification number (PIN) work together to complete each transaction when at a chip-enabled retailer. This means that when shopping at a chip-enabled retailer in Canada or overseas, PIN will replace signature when using a Visa chip card.

“We’re heading into the busiest shopping season of the year, and everyone wants to keep the lines moving quickly,” said Shirley Matthew, Director, Chip Platforms, Visa Canada. “So we’re reminding cardholders to make sure they know their PIN before they hit the malls.”

Chip cards are relatively new to the Canadian market, and were introduced to help prevent credit card fraud due to lost and stolen cards and counterfeit cards.

“With Visa chip cards, cardholders are prompted to complete their transactions by entering a PIN instead of signing a receipt when at chip-enabled retailers”, added Matthew. “Cardholders need to know their PIN, and they also have a responsibility to protect it.”

Every financial institution has specific guidelines around how cardholders can protect their PIN, just like with debit cards. For example, choose a random number, instead of something that can be easily determined like a birth date or phone number. Never write down a PIN, and keep the PIN a secret from everyone.

Shoppers can expect to still sign for purchases if the card or merchant does not have chip & PIN technology.

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Dan Madge
Senior Consultant
Fleishman Hillard
1.416.645.8188