State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) has added EMV (chip) technology to its debit card portfolio.

It is one of the first financial institutions in the country to add the microchips for increased transaction security over traditional magnetic stripe cards, a news release said.

While there is widespread adoption of the new technology worldwide, virtually none of the more than 1 billion chip cards in circulation are in the United States. SECU has more that 1.6 million debit cardholders.

Chip cards securely store and process data efficiently, the news release said. The cards are also more difficult to copy, providing enhanced security against lost, stolen and counterfeit card fraud.

As the next evolution of electronic payments, the EMV technology cards are helping to make the payment system even more secure. SECU will begin its migration this month, with a completion target date for late 2011.

"SECU's goal is to provide products and services which offer enhanced value and protection," said Leanne Phelps, senior vice president of SECU's card services department states. "The EMV technology enables us to offer members increased fraud protection along with stress-free use of their card worldwide."

Martin Ferenczi, managing director of the Americas region for the Card Systems Division at Oberthur Technologies, which is providing the technology, said, "State Employees' Credit Union is among the first in the country to bring EMV technology to its members - an important step in closing the gap in security payment standards between the U.S. and the rest of the world. The credit union's members will join the hundreds of millions of cardholders worldwide currently using the EMV standard to help prevent identity theft and fraudulent financial transactions."