EMV chip card technology is rolling out in the U.S. with the October fraud liability shift rapidly approaching. There are many misconceptions about EMV as information surrounding the technology swirls. As you work towards supporting EMV, it is helpful to understand what EMV is and what it is not.
Here are some common EMV misconceptions:
1. EMV will protect my organization from a data breach.
The primary purpose of EMV is to provide mechanisms to authenticate and validate cards, preventing thieves from duplicating or counterfeiting cards.
EMV is not the silver bullet for electronic payment security and does not add protection from hackers. An EMV chip card does not safeguard the PAN information contained on it; that will still be up to TrustCommerce’s secure encryption and tokenization platform in combination with the encrypted EMV devices utilized in the client’s environment.
EMV technology would not have prevented large scale breaches such as Target and Home Depot. However, it may have reduced the ability to use counterfeit cards resulting from the breach in card-present environments.
2. Support for EMV is required.
EMV functionality is for Point of Sale/card present transactions only and is not required or mandated. It is a choice. However, after the October 1st, 2015 Fraud Liability Shift, liability will shift for cases of fraudulent card use to the party using the least secure technology.
3. EMV will reduce all payment card fraud.
While EMV has shown a reduction of card-present fraud in countries that have adopted it, some experts predict an increase in online fraud. This is a helpful reminder that organizations need a holistic, layered approach to security to protect data on multiple fronts.
4. All merchants will have to upgrade their hardware to support EMV chip card technology.
EMV cards in the United States include both a chip and a magnetic stripe for the initial roll out. Merchants who have not yet upgraded to EMV devices will still be able to follow their existing process for taking a payment.
TrustCommerce & EMV
TrustCommerce can fully support your organization as you work towards requirements for EMV and identifying a standard, secure, tokenized payment processing model enterprise-wide. We are in the process of finalizing a standardized, fully capable EMV solution with platform certifications ongoing.
To learn more about TrustCommerce and EMV, Contact Us.
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