Antonio, you are right perdoname (acento en la "o")....I saw this in France. Like Spain, we here in Canada will have to wait a few years before we see the smart chip. In a Paris restaurant, the waitress was surprized to see that my card did NOT have a smart chip.
The chip works all the time (unlike the magnetic strip) and has added security features.
From what I understand, the "chip" is a French invention (i'm not sure of the company) and has proprietary status. As a result they are still expensive for companies to use, but soon all companies will change to the chip. It will replace the magnetic strip just like DVD's are slowly replacing the VHS.