The answer (assuming this is the same story I wanted to reference) is that the credit card companies just considered the existing fraud to be a cost of doing bu

The answer (assuming this is the same story I wanted to reference) is that the credit card companies just considered the existing fraud to be a cost of doing business. Yes, instituting these new chips will lead to less fraud, but it also has a big cost. For a long time, they looked at these two costs, and went with the cost from fraud. Of course, that analysis ignores the very painful cost to consumers of identify theft, which is why I'm glad they're finally implementing a more secure system.