(CBS NEWS) -- Most U.S. credit cards use decades-old technology. It is easy to hack and leaves customers vulnerable to fraud, but now Sam's Club is the first major US retailer to embed microchips in credit cards to combat thieves.
"The chip will actually store all the necessary information -- instead of the magnetic strip -- and this will make the card much more hard to counterfeit," says Sam's Club Membership Manager John Talamantz.
After a series data breaches involving other retailers, Talamantez says customers are very concerned about the security of their personal and financial information.
"This has been top of mind for them, and we wanted to make sure we had this chip enabled technology as soon as possible," he says.
Traditional cards have magnetic strips that contain your financial information, but the new cards generate a unique authorization code with each swipe.
Angel Miranda had someone charge $1,500 in purchases on a fraudulent credit card opened in his name.
"If this is a way to prevent that and not have me worry about that, being a small business owner, [it's] very important that my money is not taken or put on hold or tied up," Miranda says.
To process the microchip cards, stores need all-new readers and have to train employees.
But other businesses have an incentive to upgrade. By October 2015, retailers and banks that do not use microchip technology will be responsible for fraudulent purchases.
Sam's Club began offering its cards on Monday. Other major U.S. retailers, including Target, are working to roll out chip cards in the coming months. Europe began adopting the cards a decade ago.
