WASHINGTON, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - A new initiative called "Buy Secure" to protect American consumers identity, credit score, and savings was announced by US President Barack Obama.
"Starting next year, we're going to begin making sure that credit cards and credit card readers issued by the United States government come equipped with two new layers of protection: a microchip in the card that's harder for thieves to clone than a magnetic strip, and a pin number you enter into the reader," stated President Obama in his speech at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday.
US President added that American Express is pledging $10 million to replace outdated card readers at small businesses, MasterCard is pledging to provide its customers with free identity-theft monitoring and resolution support and Citi is joining other financial institutions in making free FICO credit scores available to customers.
President Obama also called on Congress to adopt one clear national standard to tackle financial data breaches bringing certainty to businesses and keeping consumers safe. Currently such crimes in the United States are handled by separate state laws.
A group of largest American retailers including Walmart, Home Depot, Target, Walgreens have pledged to adopt chip-and-pin technology by the beginning of 2015, according to the top White House official.
In the upcoming months the US President plans on bringing together key stakeholders in the consumer financial space and consumer advocates for a cybersecurity summit focused on protecting consumers using the next generation of mobile payment systems and devices.
"I went to a restaurant up in New York when I was there during the General Assembly, and my credit card was rejected. Fortunately, Michelle had hers. Even I'm affected by this," said Obama after his speech.
Last year, millions of Americans became victims of identity theft, and it is now America's fastest-growing crime. The United States accounted for 51% of global payment card fraud costs in 2013, according to the BI Intelligence research group.
