Several points...
I must make several points...
1) I don't know that (as a practical matter) these will actually improve security. Presently, it's a mess, if I go to one store (with my mag stripe card) the checout never asks for my PIN; if I go to another, they ask for my PIN if I run the card as debit but not credit. I've seen a demo (linked off the Register!) probably 5 years ago where someone (with card holder's permission) cloned a chip card and ran a transaction on it (and the UK banks insisted it is secure even after being shown the video.) Apparently, these cards being rolled out in the US are not chip'n'pin, but chip'n'signature. I think require PIN is the best way to ensure security.
2) Theory aside, as a practical matter, I've had *one* ATM that did not want to read my card, and zero checkouts act up reading it. The door cards, I doubt anyone was responsible for cleaning the reader; on ATMs presumably the ATM owner cleans the reader when they add cash, and at checkouts I'm sure if nothing else the cashier cleans the thing when it starts acting up for them. Or they're self-cleaning, or immune to dirt... I don't know, I'm just saying I have not had mag stripe problems even to the degree I would expect, let alone what you'd expect based on those mag-stripe door locks.
3) I was going to comment how I don't want a card that can be copied or have a transaction run against it while it's still in my pants. But it turns out, these cards are not NFC, they rely on contact with the card reader! 8-)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
