The chip and ATM evolution

October will find ATM owners here in the states upgrading or replacing those cash fountains with models which accept chip cards or become liable for defined instances of fraud they may incur without them.

It seems that the chip machines themselves as well as that maintenance of them may be self limiting in the market of the convenience store or watering hole proper to the point that many establishments of the retail persuasion may forgo the ATM on premises altogether.

Depending on which side of the transaction fee you happen to be standing on this may be horrible or not so much ...

Statistics state that compromised ATM-created problems for customers increased some 600% last year.

The skullduggery is evolving to include these chip based technologies and there are exploits which have been drummed up for the chip based access points as well.

Be all of this as it may I feel that my fiscal responsibility should eclipse my convenience of monetary access so I am quick to only hit those few ATMs at my bank.

I have even had a lesson from the bank on what to look for before inserting the old debit card — which by the way remains a chipless "swipe" device to this day.

The bottom line here is increasing vigilance is warranted for anyone who wants to protect their bottom line.

Let the foolhardy get ripped off by the cyber criminal. I hit my transaction logs several times daily and I don't use just ANY machine to access my money.