MOBILE, AL. (WKRG) – Chip and pin cards started in Europe and were successful in decreasing credit card fraud.

“You inserted it into the point of sale terminal, and then you had to enter your pin in while it’s reading the chip, so it verifies,” says Detective Laura Soulier with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.

But it hasn’t quite gotten there yet in the U.S. Not everyone’s chip reader works yet and at some places, you aren’t even asked to enter a pin or give your signature. The biggest drawback of all–it’s doesn’t stop someone from using your stolen card information online.

“It does not cut down on credit card fraud online. And I’m not really sure what the answer to that is,” says Soulier.

And that’s why experts say Apple Pay is a more secure alternative.

“Only because it requires either a pin or a biometric-type identifier like your thumbprint,” says Kristina Barrett with the Computer Crew.

More security steps—You have to unlock your phone, using a passcode or thumbprint, then you have to verify the purchase with another thumbprint.

“It’s your thumbprint, there’s no recreating your thumbprint,” says Barrett.

Plus, it cuts down on wait times. With a chip, you can wait as long as 10 seconds before you get your card back. Apple Pay is instantaneous. And we could see chip and pin get more secure, once everyone is onboard.

“I believe, yeah, that it’s going to make the businesses start paying more attention, and yeah it’s going to slow down production a little bit but it’s sadly the price of security,” says Soulier.

And no matter what, you should still check your bank statements, and report it if your card number or information is stolen.