How To Make Money Off EMV Today

By Business Solutions magazine

Most merchants are laser-focused on doing one thing: selling their wares. POS terminals and payment processing only gain mindshare when they stand to help the merchants sell more or threaten to lose money. While EMV is important and something retailers are going to have to deal with, the deadline for compliance is still far enough on the horizon that merchants who are aware of it aren’t feeling much urgency to spend money to update their payment infrastructures. And, of course, there are plenty of merchants who are unaware of EMV and the deadline. So, if merchants aren’t feeling the urgency of the deadline, how can VARs make money off EMV now?

“There is certainly value and money to be made in being a knowledgeable and trusted adviser, but very huge risks in using scare tactics to drive a merchant into a purchase decision. We recently advised a VAR who was selling the ‘futureproof’ concept with a specific terminal manufacturer to a sizable merchant. It turns out that the processor that the merchant wanted to use was not going to initially support that particular terminal for EMV. Had the dealer completed that transaction with the merchant, and the merchant was ultimately forced to toss out those terminals or change processors upon EMV upgrade, certainly that dealer would have been in harm’s way for misrepresentation. Instead of trying to sell them product immediately, he sold them advice and positioned himself for the longer-term relationship sale.