On the sixth day of payments, my processor gave to me: EMV compliance.
Back in October 2015, a liability shift occurred that required businesses to become EMV compliant in how they accept credit cards from customers. Businesses that did not upgrade their POS system to accept EMV chip cards became liable for fraudulent transactions (as opposed to liability falling on the card issuer or the bank) if fraud were to occur at their business.
While most business followed through with EMV compliance, many held out for reasons of cost and confusion. Payline aims to dispel EMV compliance myths to help you ensure you’re in control when you accept credit cards from your customers.
Security is a Top Priority…
The magnetic stripe on the back of traditional credit cards stores personal financial data, and whomever accesses that data (whether through hacking, skimming, or stealing a consumer’s credit or debit card from their wallet) in turn gains that personal information needed to make a purchase. With EMV-chip cards on the other hand, that chip creates a unique transaction token that cannot be used again for any other transaction. Hackers cannot duplicate cards as easily as they could in the past. EMV compliance, however, will not prevent data breaches from occurring.
… But, Fraud is Still a Threat
Just because your business has gone the route of EMV compliance doesn’t mean that you’re fraud-free. Switching to chip-enabled card readers is just one of many steps a business can (and should) take to reduce the chance of interactions with fraud. We’ve seen the implications of stolen credit card data in the past year with fraudulent occurrences like the Equifax hack, for example. With EMV compliance, in-store incidents of fraud have decreased, but card-not-present fraud will likely continue to rise as hackers try to get their hands on your customers’ information.
Being EMV Compliant is Worth the Cost
Yes, new technology and updated POS system software may come with a significant cost for some merchants, but the savings associated with being compliant may be worth it in the long run. Improvements have actually been made in the past year to EMV technology so that transaction speeds are faster and new technology is not as cumbersome or as difficult to use as it once was when the liability shift occurred.
As EMV technology continues to become smarter and faster, start your new year on the right, secure foot with EMV compliance standards in store and protect your business from fraudulent transactions this holiday season and beyond.
