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MasterCard Adam Foote Jersey , Visa form group to help push for better card security

Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc said they had started a cross-industry group to enhance security for card transactions and press U.S. retailers and banks to satisfy a 2015 deadline to adopt technology that will make it safer to pay with plastic.

The move follows several data breaches at U.S. retailers, including one at Target Corp late last year involving the theft of about 40 million credit and debit card records.

The new group - which includes banks, credit unions, retailers and industry trade associations - will initially focus on the usage of 'EMV' chip technology, MasterCard and Visa said in a statement on Friday..

EMV cards, already used in Europe and Asia Colorado Avalanche Adidas Jersey , store information on computer chips rather than on conventional magnetic strips, making them harder to counterfeit.

They can also require - depending on the issuer - that customers enter a personal identification number, or PIN, to make purchases, adding an extra layer of security.

However, the National Retail Federation Adidas Colorado Avalanche Jersey , the world's biggest retail trade association, said it had not joined the group because there had been no plans to immediately implement the PIN option, making for a "half-baked solution."

"They're not serious about decreasing fraud, unless they put a pin on," said Mallory Duncan, the NRF's general counsel.

"We remain insistent that U.S. retailers' customers be offered the exact same protections as customers in more than 80 nations who have both a chip and a PIN securing their credit and debit cards Tyson Jost Avalanche Jersey ," Duncan said in a statement.

Visa and MasterCard declined to provide particulars on specific proposals for the technology to be used in the cards or the make-up of the cross-industry group.

The American Bankers Association didn't respond to requests for comment but Patrick Keefe, a spokesman for the Credit Union National Association, confirmed that the trade association was part of the industry group.

"The recent high-profile breaches have served as a catalyst for much required collaboration in between the retail and financial services industry on the issue of payment security," Visa President Ryan McInerney said in the statement.

STRIKING WHILE IRON IS HOT

MasterCard and Visa had already set a deadline of October 2015 for U.S. retailers to adopt the new payment technologies.

"Probably about 80 % plus of the larger retailers were going to be able to make the deadline anyways," said David Robertson, publisher of payment industry newsletter The Nilson Report. Robertson said the formation of the group would assist push little and mid-size retailers to adopt the new technology.

Banks and retailers have been dragging their feet over the upgrade Tyson Barrie Avalanche Jersey , at odds over how the expenses would be split.

The NRF has said it could cost the U.S. retail industry about $30 billion to upgrade to chip-based cards, including equipment, training and software.

"In the aftermath of the Target breach Teemu Selanne Avalanche Jersey , security is on the minds of executives in the way it hasn't been in a extremely long time," Robertson said. "This is a classic