October 8th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Rules have changed in regards to swiping credit cards October 1st, 2015 with the EMV Liability Shift; which may not cause much concern for most consumers, but for merchants.
EMV compliance isn’t a legal requirement. However, if you’re a merchant that accepts credit cards in-person, then you need to find out whether you’re meeting the EMV Standard. The new rule for the liability shift applies October 1st, regardless of the size or type of business.
What Is EMV Standard?
EMV stands for EuroPay, MasterCard, and Visa, the three companies that originally created the standard.
The EMV Shift is to provide enhanced security and prevent fraudulent activity with credit cards. Updated equipment is also necessary for processing the new computerized cards, and unfortunately, the responsibility of securing up-to-date hardware falls on the merchant.
Since card evolves more instead of cash in our society, fraud and data breaches is on the increase, and now a common occurrence. Adapting new technology is therefore necessary. A hassle for many merchants, but there are actually benefits from all parties involved in a credit card transaction.
Data shows that fraud decreases dramatically when EMV Standards are implemented In Europe. The region has experienced an 80% reduction in credit card fraud, while the USA has seen a 47% increase by NOT implementing EMV standards.
The new liability rules took effect on October 1st in the US, and any party that has not yet implemented EMV-compliant machines might now be liable for fraud committed with counterfeit chip cards. Note that this liability shift only applies to in-person transactions. Phone order and web order transactions will be dealt with as they always were.
For Merchants, it means you’ll eventually need to get new equipment for processing credit cards payments in-person (unless you’ve already done so not too long ago, as nearly all POS terminals sold in the USA nowadays are EMV compliant). For most business owners, it’s a good idea to implement the new system sooner rather than later.
Step to take as a Merchant Until you get your EMV equipment
- Ask for an official ID from customers whose credit card you process.
- Conduct some research to see which EMV system would be best for your business.
- Start shopping around for new payment processing options that are EMV compliant.
If you already have a machine that can process chip cards, you’re fully EMV-compliant.
If you don’t accept any in-person payments, then you’re all set.
If you do accept in-person payments and you do not have a chip card machine, chances are you’ll be fine for a little while. But those of you with a high risk of encountering a fake card (if you are a high-volume business with a large average ticket, for instance) should probably upgrade soon.
Fraudsters are going to be taking advantage of businesses that haven’t upgraded so it’s a great time to switch!
Check out NTC’s EMV/NFC Capable Terminal!
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Point of Sale Tagged with: chip cards, credit card transaction, credit cards, credit cards payments, EMV, EMV equipment, EuroPay, high risk, MasterCard, merchants, nfc, payment processing, POS terminals, visa
October 6th, 2015 by Elma Jane
If you accept credit cards and don’t know what EMV is here is what you need to know.
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. A credit card that had a chip embedded in it is an EMV. EMV Cards have been standard in Europe for more than 10 years because they’re more secure than magnetic stripe cards. Magnetic stripe cards doesn’t change, it has static data, which makes them easy to clone. The chip embedded card makes it more difficult and costly to counterfeit because the data that is transmitted changes each time the card is read. This means less fraud.
Liability Shift rules set by Visa and MasterCard as of October 1st. The liability for fraud carried out in physical stores with counterfeit cards belongs to the merchant if it has not yet upgraded its POS system to accept EMV-enabled chip cards.
- Calculate your risk – Consider the cost of replacing your point-of-sale (POS) terminal vs. potential risk. Whether you replace it now or at a later time, eventually all businesses will have to replace their POS terminals.
- Educate your staff – Educated employees translate to better-educated customers. Merchants can help customers better understand this change and what it means for them.
- Upgrade your POS system – Consider using an EMV compliant credit-card reader on a wireless device for an ultra-secure mobile solution. This is also a chance to upgrade other options, such as near field communication NFC technology, which lets consumers use their mobile devices to make payments at the point of sale.
National Transaction Terminals with EMV and NFC (near field communication) Capability To accept Apple Pay, Android Pay and other NFC Transactions at your business. You will need to adopt point-of-sale devices with NFC/contactless readers.
National Transaction offer a range of options to suite your specific needs.
If you’re using Virtual Merchant Mobile now called Converge please contact our office at 888-996-2273 to know your options.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa Tagged with: Android Pay, Apple Pay, chip cards, contactless readers, Converge, credit cards, EMV, EuroPay, magnetic stripe, MasterCard, merchants, Near Field Communication, nfc, payments, POS, terminal, Virtual Merchant Mobile, visa
September 24th, 2015 by Elma Jane
If you accept credit cards and don’t know what EMV is here is what you need to know.
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. A credit card that had a chip embedded in it is an EMV. EMV Cards have been standard in Europe for more than 10 years because they’re more secure than magnetic stripe cards. Magnetic stripe cards doesn’t change, it has static data, which makes them easy to clone. The chip embedded card makes it more difficult and costly to counterfeit because the data that is transmitted changes each time the card is read. This means less fraud.
Questions to ask to help you decide about terminal upgrade.
- Calculate your risk – Consider the cost of replacing your point-of-sale (POS) terminal vs. potential risk. Whether you replace it now or at a later time, eventually all businesses will have to replace their POS terminals.
- Educate your staff – Educated employees translate to better-educated customers. Merchants can help customers better understand this change and what it means for them.
- Upgrade your POS system – Consider using an EMV compliant credit-card reader on a wireless device for an ultra-secure mobile solution. This is also a chance to upgrade other options, such as near field communication NFC technology, which lets consumers use their mobile devices to make payments at the point of sale.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: chip, credit card reader, credit cards, data, EMV, emv cards, EuroPay, magnetic stripe cards, MasterCard, merchants, Mobile Devices, Near Field Communication, nfc, payments, point of sale, POS terminal, visa
July 10th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Every Merchant in the country needs to upgrade their terminal. Are you ready for the October 1, 2015 Liability Shift?
Beginning October 1, 2015, all businesses that accept in-person payments must be able to take cards embedded with chips to avoid liability for fraud. The chips are more secure than magnetic stripes.
National Transaction brings the latest EMV and NFC technologies to Merchants.
NTC Clients will be able to accept contactless payment with the same NFC technology used by Apple Pay, Google Wallet and SoftCard. Additionally, the Ingenico terminals are EMV Enabled, delivering the latest in fraud prevention technology.
The new EMV enabled terminals are designed to accept EMV chip cards and magnetic stripe cards.
EMV (an acronym for Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®) is a global technology standard for payment cards.
What are the benefits of having an EMV terminal?
These next generation terminals can reduce your risk of accepting counterfeit cards, as chip and PIN transactions verify both the card and the cardholder.
Eliminate your card present fraud liability exposure associated with the October 1st, 2015* liability shift imposed by the card brands.
Improve customer service for your international cardholder customer. EMV cards are already the standard in over 80 countries.
Be on the lookout for more information about how to be chip card ready before OCTOBER.
*Businesses with Automated Fuel Dispensers (also called “Pay at the Pump”) acceptance methods have until October 2017 to comply with the new standard.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: cardholder, cards, chips, EMV, emv cards, EMV terminal, EuroPay, magnetic stripes, MasterCard, merchant, nfc, payment cards, payments, PIN transactions, terminal, visa
June 18th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Every Merchant in the country needs to upgrade their terminal.
Are you ready for the October 1, 2015 Liability Shift?
Beginning October 1, 2015, all businesses that accept in-person payments must be able to take cards embedded with chips to avoid liability for fraud. The chips are more secure than magnetic stripes.
National Transaction brings the latest EMV and NFC technologies to Merchants.
NTC Clients will be able to accept contactless payment with the same NFC technology used by Apple Pay, Google Wallet and SoftCard. Additionally, the Ingenico terminals are EMV Enabled, delivering the latest in fraud prevention technology.
The new EMV enabled terminals are designed to accept EMV chip cards and magnetic stripe cards.
EMV (an acronym for Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®) is a global technology standard for payment cards.
By accepting chip cards EMV terminal, you help protect your business from card present fraud liability and prepare your business for the future of payment application technology. If your business accepts and processes a counterfeit card transaction on a non-EMV terminal, the liability for that fraudulent transaction is yours, not incurred by the card issuers.
How do you process an EMV chip card transaction?
- Insert Card. Instead of swiping, the customer will insert the card into the terminal, chip first, face up.
- Leave the Card in the Terminal. The card must remain in the terminal during the entire transaction.
- The Receipt or Enter a PIN. As prompted, the customer will sign the receipt or enter their PIN to complete the transaction.
- Remove Your Card. When the purchase is complete, remind the customer to take the card with them.
What are the benefits of having an EMV terminal?
These next generation terminals can reduce your risk of accepting counterfeit cards, as chip and PIN transactions verify both the card and the cardholder.
Eliminate your card present fraud liability exposure associated with the October 1st, 2015* liability shift imposed by the card brands.
Improve customer service for your international cardholder customer. EMV cards are already the standard in over 80 countries.
Be on the lookout for more information about how to be chip card ready before OCTOBER.
*Businesses with Automated Fuel Dispensers (also called “Pay at the Pump”) acceptance methods have until October 2017 to comply with the new standard.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Near Field Communication Tagged with: cardholder, cards, chips cards, contactless payment, EMV, emv chip cards, EMV terminal, EuroPay, magnetic stripe cards, MasterCard, merchant, nfc, payment cards, payments, visa
May 19th, 2015 by Elma Jane
We’re now nearly midway through 2015, and payment security still remains a topic that stirs up great concern and confusion. While there is seemingly unanimous agreement on the need for heightened security, there’s uncertainty about those who are tasked with actually implementing it. Let’s dig deeper into EMV, P2PE and tokenization. How each will play a part in the next generation of securing payments, and how without properly working together they might just fall short.
Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) – A powerful guard against credit card skimming. EMV also uses cryptography to create dynamic data for every transaction and relies on an integrated chip embedded into the card.
Downside: For Independent Software Vendor (ISVs), the biggest downside of EMV is the complexity of creating an EMV solution. ISVs interested in certifying PINpads with a few processors face up to 22 months of costly work, and because there are a large number of pending certifications, processors will be backed up over the next few years.
It’s not impossible for an ISV to build EMV solutions in-house, but it’s difficult and unnecessary when there are plug-and-play EMV solutions available. These solutions include pre-packaged and pre-certified APIs that remove most of the need for research, the complexity and the burden of time and cost.
Point to Point Encryption (P2PE) – Secures devices, apps and processes using encrypted data with cryptographic keys only known to the payment company or gateway from the earliest point of the transaction, from tech-savvy criminals, jumping at their chance to intercept POS systems and scrape the memory from Windows machines.
How does a key get into card reader? Through an algorithm called derived unique key per transaction (DUKPT), or “duck putt.” DUKPT generates a base key that’s shared with device manufacturers securely, where output cardholder data is rendered differently each time a card is swiped, making it impossible to reverse engineer the card data. P2PE not only benefits the cardholders, but also the ISVs and merchants. PA-DSS certification was designed to address the problems created with cardholder data which is not encrypted.
Downside: P2PE isn’t cheap if an organization wants to do it in-house. The secure cryptographic device needed to manage the keys, Hardware Security Module (HSM), can cost $30-40,000 but when it’s built out, that total cost can jump to $100,000.
TOKENIZATION – The best way to protect cardholder data when it’s stored is using tokenization, a process which the PCI Security Standards Council describes as one where the primary account number is replaced with a surrogate value a token. For merchants dealing with recurring billing, future payments, loyalty programs and more, tokenization is critical.
Downside: Tokenization doesn’t prevent malware that’s remotely installed on POS devices. It’s possible, as seen with recent retail card breaches, for data to be stolen before it is tokenized. That’s why it’s essential to group tokenization together with P2PE and EMV to offer optimal security.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Payment Card Industry PCI Security, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: (POS) systems, account number, billing, card, card breaches, card reader, cardholder, cardholder data, chip, credit card, data, DSS, EMV, EuroPay, gateway, Independent Software Vendor, ISVs, MasterCard, merchants, p2pe, payment company, payment security, payments, PCI, PINpads, point-to-point encryption, POS devices, processors, Security, security standards council, token, tokenization, transaction, visa
With the EMV migration just a few months away, Visa is stepping up its merchant education efforts, by launching an online portal for merchants featuring a background on chip cards, demonstrations on proper usage, and tips for implementation.
Visa also kicked off its 20-City Small Business Chip Education Tour expounding on the benefits and necessity of chip cards to local small businesses.
Visa is bringing payment industry experts to connect directly with merchants to answer their questions on the transition across the United States.
Merchant education will be a herculean task, but payments industry stakeholders should make every effort to make sure chip cards are adopted and used effectively by both merchants and consumers.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: cards, chip, chip cards, consumers, EMV, EMV migration, Merchant's, payment, payment industry, visa
April 13th, 2015 by Elma Jane
With only six months to go before the EMV chip-card liability shift takes effect, many U.S. merchants are not yet aware of the EMV migration.
When the Oct. 1 liability shift takes hold, merchants not accepting the new chip-card technology will become liable for any losses resulting from payment card fraud at the point of sale. Some merchants have stated that they would rather trust their existing security measures than pay for the upgrade to EMV, but others still need to educate themselves on the benefits and drawbacks of EMV – and it’s not even clear how many are out of the loop.
The challenge is that no one really knows about the level of EMV readiness because there is no single, common way to reach all of the merchants of all different levels and sizes at the same time.
Instead, various organizations are picking bits and pieces of the market they can reach and do everything they can to inform and help merchants to determine if they are moving toward chip-based technology or not.
EMV cards improve security at the point of sale by including technology that makes them resistant to counterfeiting. They can also be used with a PIN to address stolen card fraud. Though the card networks set an October deadline for conversion to EMV technology, it is not a mandate; companies will still be able to handle credit card transactions even if they do not have EMV technology in place.
And even the merchants that have the right technology installed may not be using it properly. During the EMV preparedness process, it has become apparent that installed EMV terminals had not been turned on or otherwise were not fully capable of accepting EMV transactions.
The confusion extends to the banks as well. Not all issuers will be ready for EMV, and some have outright stated that they do not think it will be possible to meet this year’s deadline.
In a move designed to get more small-business merchants on board with EMV, Visa Inc. introduced a 20-city small business chip education tour last month.
The real measurement of the implementation will be in transaction volumes, or actual chip-on-chip transactions.
Even though the liability shift is just six months away, still really early to make a determination on all of this.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Point of Sale, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: card, chip card, EMV, emv cards, EMV terminals, EMV transactions, fraud, Merchant's, payment, point of sale, visa
January 26th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Accept Electronic Payments in Their Currency,
Convert it to Yours
DCC or Dynamic Currency Conversion is a system where the Visa or MasterCard holder in a foreign country can shop on an American based web site that displays prices in their own local currency. The web site can offer multiple choices as to which country the shopper is based in and the shopper can be immediately familiar with the pricing of goods and services.
Exchange rates are in constant flux. Dynamic Currency Conversion utilizes a Bank Reference Table (BRT) otherwise known as a Card Recognition Table (CRT). This table is updated on a daily basis so that transactions have the most up to date conversion rate for transactions. Your web site holds pricing information in $USD, and based on the selection of the shopper, prices are converted to their native currency. Even if the shopper does not choose the correct currency, at the time the card information is presented, the system automatically recognizes that the card is foreign and applies the appropriate currency and exchange rate.
At the close of the transaction an invoice or receipt can present the total to the customer in their currency, along with the merchants local currency along with the exchange rate that was applied. In today’s global business environment, this level of convenience to the customer insures they are comfortable with the transaction from shopping cart to the door. Your business reaches foreign nations expanding your market while presenting new opportunities, increasing your businesses bottom line.
On the merchant end, all transactions are settled in $USD. Reporting mechanisms can display the consumers pricing and the exchange rate they paid for analysis and cost reduction.
Currency Conversion
- Accept currencies from other nations.
- Convert funds to US Dollars.
- Set prices in local currency to avoid confusion or calculation.
- Works with e-commerce as well as Mail Order / Phone Order.
- Ease the sales process for your customers.
- Increase customer familiarity.
- Immediately convert currency to avoid value gaps.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Electronic Payments Tagged with: Bank Reference Table, Card Recognition Table, consumer, conversion rate, currency, customer, Dynamic Currency Conversion, e-commerce, electronic payments, exchange rate, invoice, MasterCard, Merchant's, receipt, shopping cart, transactions, visa
January 21st, 2015 by Elma Jane
With a crucial deadline, the payments industry is starting to look at just what kind of fraud liability and how much fraud merchant acquirers will have to assume if their merchants aren’t ready to accept Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip cards by October.
While issuers currently absorb losses under card-network rules, that burden will shift to acquirers this fall in cases where the fraud occurs at merchants unprepared for EMV.
As a result, acquirers will have to reckon with a whole new category of risk exposure.
In card-not-present transactions, acquirers have faced this, but in the overwhelming majority of cases they’ll be confronting it for the first time.
Surprisingly, for all the talk in the industry about the imminent arrival of EMV, it appears few acquiring executives have fully accounted for what the shift really means for them.
Some 24% of U.S. point-of-sale terminals are “EMV-capable,” while 9% of debit/prepaid cards issued, and 2% of credit cards have EMV chips so far. But while terminals may be technically capable, it isn’t known just how many of these merchants have the software and trained personnel to accept EMV.
Foreign issuers, especially, may be licking their chops at the prospect of offloading their consumer-fraud risk onto U.S. acquirers. For years and years, these non-U.S. issuers have invested in EMV, but the U.S. is still using the mag stripe. So non-U.S. issuers appear to be very aware of the liability shift.
To be sure, acquirers’ increased risk exposure may be relatively short-lived. Under the network rules, liability rests with the issuer in cases where both the merchant and the issuer are EMV-compliant. That could be nearly universally the case within a few years. By 2018, nearly all cards and terminals will be compliant.
But that still leaves open the question of how many of these terminals will really be running chip card transactions.
The issue isn’t so much about terminals as about software. Many mid-size merchants are using so-called integrated solutions that run payments as part of a larger business-management system. That means acquirers must work with a number of other parties to reconfigure software, and that presents a challenge when it comes to getting masses of merchants EMV-compliant.
The bigger problem is the integrated point-of-sale market.
While the liability shift may impact acquirers, not all them are convinced their exposure will rise all that much. Some argue the risk of loss from lost/stolen/counterfeit cards at the point of sale is low and not likely to rise, especially for small-ticket merchants.
Fraudsters, are much more inclined to practice their trade online, where the risk of being caught is lower, compared to face-to-face transactions.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: card network, card-not-present, chip cards, credit cards, debit/prepaid cards, EMV, EuroPay, fraud, integrated solutions, mag stripe, MasterCard, merchant acquirers, Merchant's, payments, payments industry, point of sale, terminals, transactions, visa
