The way you accept credit and debit card payments is about to change.
A new standard for payment cards and payment acceptance devices—EMV—is being rapidly implemented in this country in an effort to greatly increase card security and improve global interoperability. EMV has been used throughout the world successfully for years, significantly reducing card fraud—and it is coming to the U.S.
EMV cards are embedded with a computer chip that securely stores the cardholder’s account details and creates a unique encrypted code—or digital signature—for each transaction for validation that cannot be reused or cloned. When combined with additional layers of security—such as encryption and tokenization—EMV significantly reduces opportunities for card payment fraud at the Point of Sale (POS).
Liability Shift
The card brands have instituted a liability shift for fraudulent transactions that occur at the point of purchase beginning in October 2015 for non-AFD (Automated Fuel Dispenser) and October 2017 for AFD. Merchants that do not have a terminal or POS system capable of reading EMV cards will be responsible for chargebacks and fraudulent card acceptance beginning October 2015.
EMV vs. Magstripe
Unlike a magnetic stripe card, an EMV card is not swiped through a reader. Rather, it is inserted into a slot on the POS terminal—or tapped at the POS—if the customer possesses a duel-interface EMV card and the merchant has a PIN pad or terminal that includes a contactless reader. Both options may also require the cardholder to enter a PIN or provide a signature.
All of the EMV chip cards issued today in the U.S. also have a magnetic stripe for use at businesses that have not yet upgraded to EMV.
Heartland Secure
While an extremely effective method of reducing counterfeit and lost/stolen card fraud in a face-to-face payment environment, EMV is just one important component of a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to payment security that includes tokenization and encryption—all of which are offered in the Heartland Secure solution.