ISVs: Wish You Could Upgrade To EMV In 24 Hours? Read On
Cardknox, an EMV gateway and payments provider, released its Rapid EMV solution, enabling POS developers to upgrade their systems to EMV within 24 hours.
The solution, released on Sept. 16, includes a sandbox testing account, SDK, API, documentation, and complimentary terminal for testing. The company states the program can be implemented in nearly every point of sale (POS) environment with a few lines of code.
Bruce Zlotowitz, Cardknox’s CMO, says since the release, “The response has been overwhelming. We have been scheduling demos and consultations back to back. In the past week alone, we have had dozens of new developers that began integrating our solution. In addition, we have been attracting many developers that have unique situations, such as browser-based POS systems, or dealers that require an EMV solution for popular software like Microsoft RMS.”
Zlotowitz attributes the positive response to the fact that Cardknox is providing a solution to a complex problem for developers. Some developers, small and large, have been moving forward without a clear game plan, overwhelmed by the number of solutions they are dealing with. Cardknox’ solution gives them an option. “There are many solutions that require complex integrations, and they only support a portion of a developer’s customer base because of processing choices. Since we support processing with residuals and gateway with only one integration, all of a developer’s customer base is covered,” Zlotowitz explains. “We also have a unique advantage of maintaining our own gateway and going through the full certification process internally.”
He says the company has provided EMV solutions in the U.K. and Canada for years, so Cardknox’ experience is an added benefit for U.S. companies now migrating and “we can offer creative solutions to most any scenario that we come across.”
The October 1 liability shift, now less than two days away, marks the point in time when liability for fraudulent payment card transactions will shift to the party with the least compliant EMV technology. It’s not just chargebacks that your merchant IT clients need to be concerned with, however. Cardknox points out that as more and more merchants become EMV-ready, the number of locations where criminals can make fraudulent purchases will decrease. EMV technology uses chip cards that create a unique code for each transaction; cards cannot be duplicated from stolen cardholder data. And with fewer places to use fraudulent magnetic stripe cards, those locations could see more instances of transactions with fraudulent cards.
With this motivation for your merchant clients to migrate to EMV and, as of July, with only about 5 percent of the U.S. merchant base EMV enabled, Zlotowitz predicts, “The October 1 deadline is not the end, it is just the beginning.” He says merchants that sell high ticket items, such as jewelry, are scrambling now, but many others will not be fully ready for months to come. He predicts interest in the Rapid EMV solution will continue moving forward, as your merchant clients upgrade their systems.
For more information on Cardknox’ solution, click here.