Let's talk about your credit card. It's been almost a year since a soft deadline passed for the introduction of new chip credit cards for consumers. These cards are supposed to be better at preventing fraud and harder for crooks to duplicate. But many consumers are still waiting for their cards to arrive - while many retailers have yet to accept the cards for purchases. Last year, VISA and MasterCard issued a self-imposed deadline to introduce a new, more secure kind of credit card into the American marketplace. The banking and retail industry refer to them as "EMV" cards for Europay MasterCard and VISA. But most consumers simply know them as "chip" cards. A chip in the card would replace the magnetic stripe on the back of the cards that we have used for decades. But that deadline of October 1, 2015, came and went without much fanfare. And now, months later, the transition to the new cards can best be described as slow. Major retailers like Walmart and Home Depot have filed lawsuits against VISA and MasterCard, alleging that the credit card giants have been slow in in introducing the cards to consumers. The legal actions also accuse VISA and MasterCard of now using the chip technology in the cards to its full extent, leaving consumers in the united States more exposed to fraud than consumers in approximately 80 other countries around the globe. MasterCard who have changed their payment terminals to accept these new cards report a 25% drop in the amount of counterfeit card fraud. At the same time, law enforcement agencies report a growing number of card crooks flocking to the U.S. trying to steal and duplicate as many magnetic stripe credit cards as they can before they go away. While the U.S. accounts for approximately 25% of the world's credit card transactions, more than half of the credit card fraud also occurs in this country because our magnetic stripe cards are easy for crooks to duplicate.

On this episode of Smart Talk we'll talk with Corrine Sherman of the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association about how quickly the cards are being brought into the retail marketplace. And we'll also talk with Brian Rider of the Pennsylvania Retail Association about the challenges that retailers are facing in accepting and processing these cards. And of course, we'll be taking your calls and questions on an issue that effects nearly every adult consumer.