EMV: Preparing For Changes To The Retail Payment Process

A forthcoming shift in the liability for card-present fraud—and changes to the customer-facing payment process—require the attention of merchants and acquirers.

The U.S. is the lone major commercial holdout in the global migration to the EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) standard for secure payments. As a direct result, card present fraud has migrated here en masse. Thus, on the heels of successful EMV rollouts and the resulting documented fraud mitigation in Europe, Canada and several other countries, the major card brands have provided an impetus for U.S. merchants and merchant acquirers to migrate to EMV. That impetus comes in the form of a shift in liability from issuers to acquirers and merchants beginning in 2015. As of October 1 of 2015, merchants and acquirers—not card issuers—will bear the financial burden resulting from fraudulent use of counterfeit, lost and stolen cards. It’s a risk that’s only mitigated by demonstration and documentation of EMV compliance.

Beyond the liability shift, EMV holds promise as an enabler of secure mobile and e-commerce payments, with attractive PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security Standards-related benefi ts for merchants. Those who implement EMV contact- and contactless-enabled POS devices may be excused from PCI audits and the costs associated with them, creating further incentive to adopt EMV. In this paper, we’ll discuss the details behind the migration to EMV, how the technology works, and the changes merchants must prepare for at the point-of-sale (POS).

Download this white paper below to read more.