Five things consumers need to know about EMV chip cards:
- Today, October 1, EMV credit/debit card readers will be activated at stores across the U.S. who have purchased new EMV terminals.
- If you don't have your new chip card, don't panic. Only 25 percent of consumers have received them, according to Natalie Dunlevey, president National Processing Solutions. Call your bank to request a card.
- If you do have your new EMV card, instead of swiping it, you will insert your card into the reader, typically located at the bottom of the terminal, and you will leave the card in the machine until the transaction is processed.
- You will be asked to give your signature for every EMV transaction.
- If you don't see the EMV insertion point on the terminal, that's OK, too. Only 27 percent of merchants are EMV compliant at this time, Dunlevey said. In this case, you will swipe your card, even if is an EMV card, as you normally would.
Five things merchants need to know about EMV chip cards:
- Today, October 1, is the deadline for merchants to have the new EMV chip card readers. If your business doesn't have one, it is among the 73 percent of businesses who will miss the deadline, according to Natalie Dunlevey, president National Processing Solutions.
- If you do have an EMV card reader, it will activate today. Customers who have a chip card should insert their card into the reader, instead of swiping the magnetic stripe, and they should sign for their transaction.
- If your business has an EMV card reader, the bank or credit card issuer is to maintain responsibility for any debit/credit card security breaches that occur, according to Mallory Duncan, an expert on consumer privacy issues and Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Retail Federation.
- Businesses without the EMV technology could be held liable for any data breaches involving credit/ debit cards.
- If you need to purchase and EMV terminal for your business, contact your bank or the issuer of your current credit card terminal.
There is a new way to pay when you shop at many stores beginning today. The hope is that the new EMV payment system will cut down on data breaches and fraud, but some retail organizations said this new technology not enough.
Instead of swiping a credit or debit card’s magnetic stripe, the new EMV (Euro Mastercard Visa) cards and readers, require a shopper to insert their card into the terminal and then sign their name.
Each transaction creates a unique token, which will make the cards extremely difficult to counterfeit, according to Natalie Dunlevey, president of Dayton-based National Processing Solutions.
The move also will transfer data breach liability from banks and credit card issuers onto merchants who are not yet EMV compliant.
Dayton hairstylist Zaria Dixon said she is purchasing an EMV reader for her business and is shocked by the cost.
“The terminal used to be free, now since they have new cards, they are charging $50 for the new reader,” Dixon said.
Despite the deadline, many merchants and customers will not have the tools necessary to complete this new type of transaction.
“Only 27 percent of merchants will be EMV enabled, and as for consumers having their chip cards, we are only at about 25 percent,” Dunlevey said.
The new technology is not without flaws, according to some consumer advocates and retail groups, including the National Retail Federation.
They are calling for the added security of a PIN to be punched in during each transaction, which is the standard in Europe.
“The new chip cards are a half-baked solution to the fraud problem,” said Mallory Duncan, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Retail Federation, in a conference call.
“The PIN is probably better, but it was really kind of a balancing of expediency. They want to get this out and going to the signature and chip was easier, said Mike Moloney, a financial planner with SS+D Financial in Dayton.
“Unfortunately, we are not going to have the pins available, The issuing banks have not put those in the hands of consumers yet, so it will be chip and signature. It is a higher level of security than the old mag stripe, but it’s not the platinum standard, so to speak,” Dunlevey said.
The PIN standard is expected to eventually be adopted in the U.S., according to Dunlevey, but that could be two years away.
The new EMV cards and readers could lead to delays and confusion at the checkout.
“We are all going to have to be patient here because it’s a new thing. Before we just swiped and went on our way now you have to stick it up in the machine, and it sits up in there for a while, and everybody seems just a little confused,” Moloney said.
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