In recent years, if you asked security integrators and manufacturers which vertical segments offered the greatest opportunities, retail would no doubt be at or near the top of the list. Now, thanks in large part to the migration to new credit and debit card technology, this may be more true than ever before.
Banks and credit card companies have been issuing new cards that include an embedded smart chip, in addition to the traditional magnetic stripe, to provide greater protection against identity theft and fraud. This change means retailers everywhere need to replace their magnetic stripe-only card readers with new devices that also can read those embedded chips. For the security integrator who is involved in swapping out these devices for his retail customers, this opens the door for conversations about additional deployments and/or upgrades.