All new U.S. Bank of America Merrill Lynch corporate travel and expense cards will have chip-and-PIN technology,

the bank announced. BoA Merrill Lynch will replace existing clients' cards with chip-and-PIN cards at the time of renewal. BoA Merrill Lynch in 2012 first began issuing chip-enabled cards in the United States and since has issued more than 100,000 cards with embedded microchips, according to the company. Banks typically have issued chip-and-PIN cards in the United States only to certain senior executives within an organization. The embedded microchip carries card and user information that a user verifies with a personal identification number, making the transaction process more secure than magnetic swipe cards. The United States plans a full transition to chip-and-PIN cards by 2015.