The US General Services Administration’s (GSA) Smart Pay program has announced that the roll out of Chip and PIN charge cards to federal agencies will commence in January 2015.
The issuing of charge cards with enhanced security features follow the security mandate promulgated by President Barack Obama via an executive order signed in October 2014.
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The cards will include an embedded microprocessor chip that encrypts user information and transaction data uniquely for each usage of the cards.
All the contractor banks for the Smart Pay program will use Dynamic Data Authentication (DDA) standards for chip technologies to provide enhanced safeguards through the transaction terminals.
An expected number of one million Chip and Pin enabled charge cards will be issued throughout the calendar year, requiring the new card-holders to cut up or shred their existing card and only use the newly issued card.
GSA Federal Acquisition Services Commissioner Tom Sharpe said: "GSA’s government-wide SmartPay program is an extremely effective and successful payment solution that has proven to provide streamlined and secure ability for the government to conduct every-day business transactions.
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By GlobalData"By working with our industry partners on the addition of Chip & PIN technology to GSA SmartPay cards, FAS is quickly and efficiently providing greater security and even more value to the payment products and services we offer our government agency customers."
