Charlotte businesses to upgrade registers to protect consumer info

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A deadline for businesses in Charlotte is looming to protect customers' information when they make a purchase.
 
At Jesse Browns Outdoors, manager Bill Bartee is getting ready for the spring season, but Bartee is also getting ready for a big change in the way his customers pay with credit cards.
 
Banks and credit card companies are switching from storing your information on magnetic strips to electronic chips.
 
Retailers must prepare to protect your data by upgrading registers to EMV terminals that can read them.
 
The new technology still allows customers with the magnetic strip to swipe to make a purchase but the new chip card will have to be inserted.
 
Another layer of protection is that the card will never leave customers'  hands.
 
Abby Brant with Allegiance Merchant Services told Eyewitness News a lot of stores don't even know they have make the change by October first.
 
She said ignoring the deadline could put businesses at risk of a pricey penalty.
 
"If the transaction happens to be fraud, they'll be liable for that transaction," said Brant.
 
Giant retailers already hit by hackers, like Target, are already switching technology so Brant worries criminals will focus on smaller shops.
 
"We fear that a lot of the fraudsters will begin targeting small to mid-sized businesses instead of the large retailers because it will be virtually impossible to steal card data from an EMV terminal," said Brant.
 
That is a risk Bartee isn't willing to take for his store or his customers.
 
"When they're here to make a transaction, to make a purchase, one thing they don't have to worry about is being robbed ," he said.

WSOC