Newsroom

October 08, 2015

Roche: EMV 'not the end of the road'

State Department Federal Credit Union President and CEO Jan Roche discussed progress with the EMV transition and reiterated the need for a strong national data security standard in an editorial published in The Hill's Congress Blog Thursday.

Roche, who testified for NAFCU on this topic Wednesday before the House Small Business Committee, noted in the editorial that EMV does not protect data at every stage of its transmission and storage. Rather, EMV is "just one milestone on the road to a new and improved era of data security," she wrote.

"Undoubtedly, protecting data at the point of sale is not a complete solution," Roche wrote. "We must protect sensitive personal information at all stages of transmission and storage. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires credit unions and other financial institutions to meet certain criteria for safekeeping consumers' personal information. Unfortunately, there is no similar, comprehensive regulatory structure that covers retailers, merchants and others who collect and hold sensitive information."

Roche also wrote about the frequent travel of State Department FCU's members, a consideration in her credit union's decision to be an early adopter of EMV to protect her members at point of sale. She criticized the retail industry for arguing that four years was not enough for them to prepare for the technology upgrade.

Roche also discussed her testimony during Wednesday's hearing. She testified that a national data security standard "gets us all focused and makes sure we stay ahead of the fraud." Roche was responding to a question from Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., on whether the U.S. will see an uptick in online fraud as EMV cards become more prevalent.