
The microchip’s added layer of protection renders embossed numbers unnecessary, allowing credit card makers to issue cards that have a decidedly different look.Īs issuers experimented with design, traditional embossing continued to fall out of favor.

But traditional magnetic strip cards, which required a customer’s signature for security reasons, have largely been replaced by chip cards that encrypt cardholder information into a unique code that is difficult to copy.

Years ago, numbers had to be raised on the front of the card when it ran through a card reader, an imprinted image of those numbers would appear on a slip of paper for customers to sign.

The biggest reason for this innovation might be that physical numbers are no longer needed for a card to function.
