Have you heard of the terms like EMV, PIN, and Chip? As the deadline for the adoption of EMV compliance standards by merchants in the USA came around, most of the merchants found themselves unarmed and uninformed. They were quite uneasy with the changes that were about to take place along with the meaning of the same for their business enterprises. As a merchant, you should be aware of EMV compliance and what it means for your business.

What is EMV?

EMV stands for EuroPay, MasterCard, and Visa. It refers to the set of recognized standards across the globe for making sure the right utilization as well as communication between the hardware and the microchip-equipped cards for completing transactions. EMV has been designed for increasing the overall security for credit card & ATM transactions while minimizing the in-store card-related frauds. 

The technology for EMV transactions was introduced during 1995. More than 80 nations of the world have currently adopted the procedure or are currently in the process of adopting the subsequent EMV standards in the modern era. 

The countries that have already adopted the revolutionary EMV technology and its standards have observed a dramatic decrease in card-related frauds since the introduction of the technology. The United States of America serves to be one of the major countries for adopting the respective EMV guidelines. However, with the latest series of security breaches taking place all over with major brands like The Home Depot, Target, and others, most of the companies realize the overall importance of EMV compliance.

The Overall Security of EMV

Why is EMV regarded as more secure? There are two major reasons for the same. Firstly, for completing a transaction, the cardholder is expected to insert the given chip into the EMV card reader. Then, the individual can enter the PIN. The given two-stage process allows for improved security during checkout. This is because a fraudulent card user is no longer capable of using the card and forging the signature of the cardholder. 

Secondly, the data from the cards enabled through the EMV technology tends to be tokenized. This helps in the creation of a dynamic transaction code for every single purchase. This prevents the potential hackers from obtaining credit card information while using the same at a later date. This is in comparison to the traditional form of magnetic-strip cards in which data used to be static. Therefore, it is easier to copy & duplicate the existing data.

What Does EMV Technology Imply for Merchants?

The major change in the method of payment acceptance is expected to be welcomed by the current merchants. This is because it will help in decreasing their overall susceptibility to financial data breaches and fraudulent transactions. However, the given shift to the revolutionary EMV technology & compliance will require minimal investment in terms of software & hardware upgrades for a number of merchants out there.

In case a particular merchant might not have adopted or migrated to the latest EMV compliance standards that is EMV certified, the merchant is held responsible for the fraudulent charges that take place on the chip cards at the respective businesses. This is capable of encouraging the merchants to make sure that they are EMV compliant before the stipulated deadline.

EMV Compliance for Merchants

Merchants are expected to initially analyze the ongoing in-store payment technology. The merchants are also expected to determine if the given technology needs to be upgraded or replaced. Equipment upgrades can turn out to be both expensive as well as time-consuming. Therefore, merchants are expected to consider the given set of factors while planning accordingly. 

Some of the major decisions that a merchant is expected to make with respect to EMV technology & compliance are:

• Is there a requirement for replacing the POS hardware system?
• Is the given POS software solution updated? Is there a requirement for upgrading or replacing the same?
• What PIN-based PAD devices are required for EMV transactions?

Merchants are expected to reach out to the respective POS service providers for confirming whether or not upgrades are required to be made. The chances are that if the respective POS software & hardware systems of the merchant are more than some years old, then they will require an upgrade. Merchants are also expected to develop a proper employee training program for the same. This is because the overall functions related to EMV transactions tend to be quite distinct in comparison to conventional magnetic-stripe transactions. 

It is crucial to ensure that employees are trained properly for maintaining a seamless customer experience across the transition period. It is important that merchants should be in the front of the given shift while not waiting till the last moment for migrating over the respective business. An early transition is going to benefit the employees. In addition to this, it will also offer the guarantee that customers continue receiving a higher level of service across the entire process. 

Conclusion 

As a merchant, if you do not have a current, compliant EMV technology, you should ensure the same as soon as you can. While you will not be paying any fine for the same, you might have to pay a price at a later stage.

You can come across a reliable solution that would work for your business -irrespective of the industry or size of your business. This is especially important as transitioning to the revolutionary EMV technology for meeting credit card chip standards is an important step that most businesses should implement effectively.

When you make sure that your business meets the respective EMV compliance as well as credit card chip laws, it will help you to win over the continued trust of your clients and customers.