The long awaited EMV migration, set to roll through the U.S. October 2015, is finally here. The expectation has been that the payment industry will see a significant reduction in fraudulent activity, especially within the card-present (CP) environment. At the moment, in pre-EMV American, the most prevalent type of fraud stems from the loss or a stolen magnetic-stripe based card. As seen in the cases of the Target and Home Depot’s cyber-attacks, this theft or loss has become any easy mark for hackers who attempt to break into retail POS systems. However, the EMV migration does not carry a promise […]

There are major doubts concerning the changes in credit card technology. In fact, Wal Mart assistant treasurer and senior vice president, Mike Cook, went as far as calling the new implementations a “joke”. Why? The basic technology, already used widely through the rest of the world, is being introduced in the U.S. with a significant flaw. While the rest of the world has successfully been using (EMV Technology) chip-and-PIN, banks that enable the chip technology will only require signatures. The push for this new technology was to reduce the potential for credit card fraud. However, the implementation of chip-and-signature instead […]

With EMV chip card payments finally moving into the United States, many are asking what part fallback will play during the implementation process. Fallback occurs when an EMV card is inserted into an operational EMV point-of-sale terminal but the card’s backup magnetic stripe is used instead of the chip. Fallback is not a new issue in card payments. We have probably all experienced it at one time or another. If a magnetic stripe does not work, the clerk may have to manually enter the card’s account number into the terminal. If that fails, the clerk may have to speak with […]

October is the deadline for full conversion to EMV-chip based credit and debit cards. As card makers and retailers scramble to meet the deadline, many consumers and merchants have been left in the dark as to how the conversion will affect them and their transactions. As a result, some card providers have stepped up to the plate and invested in information kits to assist merchants with any questions they may have. One of these providers is Visa. The company wants to ensure that its merchants know how the technology works and how to best utilize it at the point of […]

A survey of the changing trends in the card payment industry has projected that approximately 800 million payment cards that include the debit and the credit cards are likely to have the EMV chips. For many people around the world, these Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) debit and credit cards are not just a preference, they are basic requirement. The increased levels of technical fraud that threaten the safety of people’s identities and expose merchants and clients to the risk of great financial losses has made the need for EMV cards even more urgent. The promise to have debit and credit […]

By October 2015, all domestic debit and credit cards will feature EMV technology. This technology, which consists of a chip and PIN number, replaces our current signature cards. These cards are already popular in Europe, and have a low hacker percentage. This is great, since there has been a rash of hackings in the USA. While this change has been coming for years, it was hurried thanks to the massive Target and Neiman Marcus data breaches in December 2013. It is estimated that over 10 million customers in the United States and Canada were affected by the hacking. That was […]