EMV-Compliance Due October 1, 2015 – Are You Ready?

PRESS RELEASE –(PR.com)– In these days of credit card fraud and identity theft, the United States has been behind the game in the prevention of credit card fraud when compared to the rest of the world in that most credit cards issued in the US continue to use encoded magnetic stripes to hold your data. These stripes can be scrambled, erased or copied; the data can even be stolen while the credit card remains in your wallet. Effective October 1, 2015 the major credit card companies, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express will begin shifting liability for credit card fraud to merchants that are not EMV-compliant. EMV-compliant credit cards use an RFID chip and a pin code, also known as Chip-and-Pin cards as opposed to the magnetic stripe currently used by most.

In a nutshell, if a customer uses a magnetic swipe card and it is a fraudulent transaction, the merchant is not liable; the card issuer will continue to be responsible for the loss. If however, the consumer is using a chip card, but the merchant is not using a terminal that accepts the EMV technology, and it is a fraudulent transaction, then the merchant will be found liable because the card issuer invested in the Chip-and-Pin technology but the merchant failed to upgrade to this more secure technology. If a fraudulent transaction is made with a chip card at a chip terminal, then the card issuer is responsible. The nice thing about it is that in-store credit card fraud is virtually eliminated when both parties are using the Chip-and-Pin technology.

The fact of the matter is that EMV technology may be new to the United States, but it is the standard pretty much everywhere else in the world and it will be the standard here soon. By the end of 2015 every merchant, ISO/MSP (Independent Selling Organization / Member Service Provider) and bank will have to be prepared to manage this transition because responsibility for fraud can shift from the card issuer to the merchant.

Is your business EMV-compliant? You are responsible for working with your credit card processor to ensure you are capable of accepting EMV transactions. MobiusPay is ready to help you become EMV-compliant, whether you are a brick and mortar business with a credit card terminal or if your business model deals solely with online transactions. Time is running short, MobiusPay is ready today.