MasterCard and Visa recently announced their plans to start EMV technology adoption in credit cards, 15 years after the technology was developed (it’s already been adopted in many countries, particularly in Europe).EMV (which actually stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa) uses a digital chip to encrypt card data, much more secure than the current magnetic strips. The push will mainly be for bricks-and-mortar stores to update their technology to read the cards by 2015. However, bricks-and-mortar updates have very serious ramifications for online merchants.Randy Vaderhoof, Executive Director of the independent nonprofit Smart Card Alliance, spoke with me by phone today to explain how fraudsters migrate to online fraud when offline security is increased. Thus, financial institutions abroad, particularly in the U.K., have issued hand-held readers the size of a calculator to customers with EMV cards. Customers then scan their card, which issues a one-time password they have to enter to verify any online transactions. Some banks have also issued a “display” card, which are battery-powered cards with a display and button the cardholder can press to generate a one-time password.There’s no news yet on what card manufacturers or financial institutions will be offering cardholders for online transactions, but subscription sites should start thinking now of how they can increase their security and decrease card-not-present fraud, which is likely to increase in the near future.