January 13th, 2014 by Elma Jane

Most of the world has already migrated to EMV chip technology. EMV, as commentators have noted, affects not only hardware and software, but every card payment system, device and application.  Looking ahead to the 2015 liability shift, stakeholders who have not made the switch should consider these benefits of EMV.

Rather than focusing on any potential expenses, however, stakeholders should  instead consider the important elements they have to gain.
EMV is here.

Benefits of EMV:

Global interoperability – Since most of the world has migrated to EMV, U.S. banks can that transition gain the ability to have their cards used with full EMV security anywhere in the world. Further, merchants benefit from this global interoperability as it allows them to process transactions coming into the U.S. from foreign travelers in the same way as domestic transactions.

Higher security – The latest data indicates that 78 percent of all counterfeit card fraud originates in areas where EMV has not yet been widely implemented, and even the most ardent detractors of EMV admit that EMV is very secure.

All stakeholders, gain a higher level of security than was available through magnetic-stripe technology.

Roadmap to mobile – POS terminals that support contactless EMV will in turn enable mobile EMV on NFC at merchants, meaning merchants can take advantages of all manner of popular payment methods, as well as the latest loyalty, location-based and couponing capabilities of mobile.

Posted in Credit card Processing, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 31st, 2013 by Elma Jane

While credit card processors and retailers have made strides to combat credit card fraud, it is still rampant across the U.S. In fact, credit card fraud jumped 17 percent between January, 2011, and September, 2012, according to the most recent data from the FICO Falcon Fraud Manager Consortium.

Debit cards obviously have better safeguard measures in place, since debit card fraud rose less than 1 percent between January, 2011, and September, 2012. Plus, the average fraud loss per compromised account fell by 3 percent.

Card-not-present (CNP) fraud is the biggest challenge by far, accounting for 47 percent of all credit card fraud. CNP fraud – which includes payments via the internet, mail and phone – grew 25 percent over the two-year period. So, where the problems with credit cards lie.

Unfortunately, CNP fraud may get worse before it gets better, in FICO’s Banking Analytics Blog. This problem may even intensify as the US moves away from magnetic stripe and toward EMV [chip] card technology. In other countries adopting chip-based authentication technology, we’ve seen counterfeit fraud decline, but as a counterbalance, fraudsters often ramp up efforts around CNP fraud.

However, there was a glimmer of light in the credit card fraud fiasco. While card fraud attempts rose, the average loss per compromised account dropped 10 percent. Plus, the ratio of fraud to non-fraud spending remained constant. “In other words, the volume of card fraud increased proportionally to the volume of consumer credit card spending.

Even though many retailers have implemented successful fraud prevention programs, Visa provides retailers with the warning signs for CNP fraud, including:

Multiple cards used from a single IP address. Orders made up of “big ticket” items. Orders that include several of the same item. Shipping to an international address. Transactions with similar account numbers.

Posted in Digital Wallet Privacy, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mail Order Telephone Order, Payment Card Industry PCI Security Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,