Industry introduces new technology to deal with credit card fraud

Soon, credit cards will have security features that go far beyond three numbers on the back of the card. In response to a rise in credit card fraud, card manufacturers are already testing out new ways to deter criminals and ensure that your card information remains confidential.

One security measure to be tested this year by Mastercard involves a small LCD screen in the top right hand corner of the card. By pushing a button in the lower right corner on the card, a random, one-time number is displayed on the LCD screen. This number is used as a pass code to be used in telephone and Internet purchases in order to prevent fraudulent use of the card.

A next-generation card by Visa takes this concept even farther, with a 10-digit keypad in the lower left corner. To generate the one-time pass code, you must enter your PIN into the keypad for each transaction.

Aside from integrated buttons and display screens, other, more subtle security measures will be taken by card manufacturers for the next generation of credit cards, and some of them are taken from anti-counterfeit technologies used in paper currency.

Cards would have different security features embedded in each laminate layer to make duplication tricky. These would include color-shifting inks, such as those seen on dollar bills, holograms, microscopic print that is only visible when certain conditions are met, ultraviolet inks, and "floating" images that seem to be under the surface of the card itself. Additionally, new technologies may change the numbers on a card's magnetic strip whenever it is swiped, making duplication difficult and negating the need to block a card if the cardholder's information has been stolen.

In addition to making credit cards safer, these new security measures serve another purpose: marketing.

Many of these features give cards a unique look that can help them be easily identifiable by consumers in hard economic times. For this reason, many security measures have taken on a flashy appearance.

-Seth Berger