VARs: How Well Would You Do Playing "EMV Jeopardy"?

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

The Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) EMV Committee’s panel discussion at RetaiNOW 2015 featured a round of “Jeopardy” that revealed some of the basic facts about the U.S. transition to EMV payment technology. As an IT solutions provider with clients turning to you for answers, how well would you do with this round of questions?

Q: What are the top country and industry under attack by credit card fraud?

A: Currently, the number one country under attack from credit card fraud is the United States, with the largest number of events occurring in retail.

Q: What is the current EMV adoption rate in the United States?

A: The current adoption rate of EMV in the United States is 0.12 percent, although that it projected to rise to 34 percent by October 1, date when liability for fraudulent card transactions will fall to merchants if they do not have EMV-compliant systems.

Q: What percentage of credit and debit cards will be chip cards by the transition deadline?

A: Estimates say that 70 percent of credit cards and 41 percent of debit cards will be chip cards by October 1.

Q: Will chargebacks by an effective indicator of potential threat to counterfeit, lost, or stolen fraud in a business after October 1?

A: No, because non-EMV compliant merchants will experience counterfeit credit card fraud and the lost/stolen fraud, but not necessarily the chargebacks.

Q: What are the costs of credit card fraud loss for 2015 and 2014?

A: In 2015, the estimated credit card fraud loss will reach $10 billion, rising from $8.5 billion in 2014, and these numbers reflect only credit card fraud, not breaches.

To be prepared for questions your clients will ask, RSPA has created EMV Central, a go-to resource for EMV, including a calendar of EMV educational events, on-demand EMV webinars and videos, and white papers and checklists, to help retailers stay updated about the EMV transition.