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KrebsOnSecurity recently looked into the differences and preferences of chip-and-PIN versus chip-and-signature for card issuers and consumers and, while finding pros and cons for each, said he found that the U.S is largely adopting chip-and-signature technology.

Brian Krebs, author of KrebsOnSecurity, talked with two experts to get their take on both card technologies and why many card issuers are leaning toward the signature technology over the PIN.

Julie Conroy, a fraud analyst with The Aite Group, said the PIN technology only addresses fraud when the card is lost or stolen, which, she said, "is very small in comparison with counterfeit card fraud." Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said that most card issuers and Visa don't want the PIN technology "because the PINs can be stolen and used with the magnetic strip data on the same cards (that also have a chip card) to withdraw cash from ATM machines" – a cost financial institutions have to cover.

Litan commented, however, that retailers are more in favor of chip-and-PIN technology due to the strengthened security of the point-of-sale transaction. Retailers that do not have chip-accepting card readers but are presented with a chip card must cover any fraud costs that occur at the POS.

Other concerns about the chip-and-PIN technology the experts noted were consumers forgetting their PIN and the issuer seeing a significant dip in transactions and the fact that the U.S. is a competitive market, and no card issuer "wants to have the card in the wallet this is the most difficult card to use," Conroy said.

Litan estimated that by 2015, 50 percent of cards and terminals in the U.S. will be chip-enabled. However, she said, until full compliance, consumers' data will still be backed up on magnetic strips. "[W]e're probably looking at about 2018 before we can start making plans to get rid of the magnetic stripe on these cards."

NAFCU is working towards secure payments across all sectors as part of the Payments Security Task Force, which is a diverse group of participants in the payments industry focused on EMV chip implementation, including ways to help reduce testing and implementation time. The association is also pushing Congress to establish a bipartisan working group to develop legislative recommendations to address ongoing retailer breaches.