US banks are readying to replace debit or credit cards with versions that have computer chips embedded in them in order to make shopping in stores more secure. Bank of America has announced move and said beginning October all new bank customers will be issued debit cards with chip technology and that existing cards will be upgraded as they expire. Most credit and debit cards in the country are mag strip-based at present. Many big banks and credit unions have already been issuing chip-enabled credit cards to customers who travel overseas, where the technology is in wider use. Chase said the bank already offered numerous credit cards with chips and expected most of its debit cards to be chip-enabled by the end of next year. Wells Fargo says it is testing chip technology with its debit cards and plans to issue them “on a broad scale” in the coming year. Citibank will begin issuing debit cards with chips in 2015
