…they travel down the path of least resistance. And when it comes to protecting cardholders, the U.S. may soon find itself the gateway to that path.

As payments networks the world over migrate to chip-and-PIN technology, making measurable dents in a global fraud epidemic, will the U.S. become more vulnerable?

The reason this technology reportedly works so well is because the only element – human or otherwise – that knows a cardholder’s PIN is a chip embedded in the plastic.

The setup requires a specific type of POS and supporting software, which is costly and partly to blame for the U.S.’s lack of interest in implementing the technology stateside. With merchants already up in arms about interchange costs, the last thing they are looking to support is a nationwide change in payments system infrastructure.

Financial institutions aren’t terribly motivated to adopt the news system either. Large FIs have traditionally viewed fraud loses as a cost of doing business, believing that as long as losses don’t increase too much it’s acceptable.

Another argument against chip-and-PIN in the U.S. is that our country has been to-date substantially less victimized by card fraud than other countries.

But, as it becomes increasingly difficult to commit card fraud abroad, will that change?

Less worrisome, but definitely irksome, is the potential for incompatibility for internationally traveling U.S. cardholders. Already we are witnessing an increase in the incidences of unusable plastic overseas, as Americans attempt to use their chipless plastic in foreign lands.

Jumping on the global bandwagon is hardly the American way, as we much prefer innovation to imitation. Payments technology leaders are no exception to this mindset, so it’ll be exciting to watch them blaze a new trail – hopefully one that blocks the aforementioned path so attractive to fraudsters.