WASHINGTON—President Obama has signed an executive order aimed at speeding the adoption of EMV cards and reducing data breaches. The order directs government agencies to issue to employees chip-and-PIN credit and debit cards and to upgrade retail payment card terminals at agencies to accept the cards.
In the appearance at the Consumer Federal Financial Protection Bureau’s offices, at which NAFCU CEO Dan Berger was present, the president said the White House will host later this year a cybersecurity and consumer protection summit. Obama also called on Congress to pass a national data breach notification law, and called the current patchwork of state laws unsustainable. "Today we are calling on Congress to act with urgency on data breach legislation, to bring clarity to the expectations consumers should have when their data has been breached, and to steps companies must take to notify their customers of risks after such security breaches," the president says. The use of the EMV chip-and-PIN cards is part of a new White House program called BuySecure Initiative, which the administration says will help drive the market toward more secure payment systems.
Both CUNA and NAFCU issued statements of support.
“CUNA commends the President for calling on Congress to stop the data breaches with cybersecurity legislation to protect American consumers,” said CUNA EVP/General Counsel Eric Richard. “Credit unions have repeatedly called for legislation to clarify companies’ obligations when sensitive data is breached for the safety and security of their members.
NAFCU’s Berger said, “We will continue our efforts to win passage of legislation to hold retailers and merchants to national data security standards such as those required now of credit unions and other financial institutions. National data security and breach notification standards, for all segments of the payments system, are essential for any program to succeed in keeping consumers’ personal and financial data as safe as possible.”