News Feature | June 11, 2015

EMV Migration Forum Releases Guidance On EMV Debit Technical Framework, Liability Shift

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

EMV Migration Forum Releases Guidance On EMV Debit Technical Framework, Liability Shift

The EMV Migration Forum provides guidance for the EMV migration with U.S. Debit EMV Technical Proposal and Understanding the 2015 U.S. Fraud Liability Shifts.

The debit technical framework is designed to address the challenge of implementing EMV for debit cards and identify some flexible procedures, should rules change over time. The solution provides an approach for the debit card processing scenarios known today, providing a clear and accessible path for the debit industry organizations to achieve chip implementation. The framework is detailed in a white paper, http://www.emv-connection.com/u-s-debit-emv-technical-proposal/.

Randy Vanderhoof, director of the EMV Migration Forum, explains in a statement that Understanding the 2015 U.S. Fraud Liability Shifts “simplifies essential information surrounding the liability shifts to help stakeholders meet these dates and to streamline the migration to chip technology.”

The document addresses:

  • Counterfeit fraud liability on the Accel, American Express, China UnionPay, Discover, MasterCard, NYCE Payments Network, SHAZAM Network, STAR Network, and Visa;
  • Lost or Stolen Fraud Liability shift on American Express, Discover, and MasterCard;
  • Liability shifts for Cross-Border transactions on all global payment networks.

In general, the document states, “the party supporting the most secure technology for each fraud type will prevail in a chargeback; and in case of a technology tie, the fraud liability as of October 2015 generally is expected to remain as it is today — with the issuer.”

Additional, high-level information on the liability shifts for merchants and issuers is available at GoChipCard.com, a site created by the EMV Migration Forum and the Payments Security Task Force to provide accessible resources and information regarding EMV chip technology for U.S. consumers, merchants, and issuers.

The EMV Migration Forum is a cross-industry body focused on supporting the EMV implementation steps required for global and regional payment networks, issuers, processors, merchants, and consumers to help ensure a successful introduction of more secure EMV chip technology in the United States. The focus of the Forum is to address topics that require some level of industry cooperation and/or coordination to migrate successfully to EMV technology in the United States.