Technology is changing so fast that it can be hard to keep up. Yet, unsavory characters seem to have no problem making sure they are in the loop. Because of that, many advances are being made just to make things more secure.
That’s what Europay, MasterCard, and Visa were doing when they came up with the EMV solution for credit card merchant processing services. This system makes credit card fraud much more difficult, but not all customers have started to use it. Even so, as a merchant, you are required to have the system in place for those who can use it.
What Is EMV?
EMV is named after the companies that designed it: Europay, MasterCard, and Visa. It relies on a chip inside of a card rather than the strip on the back of the credit or debit card. This method makes it much more difficult for hackers to steal personal information from the card.
EMV Compliance Timeline
The compliance date has come and gone, but not all merchants have met it. Those who don’t have put themselves at serious financial risk. As of October 1, 2015, every merchant who accepts credit cards should have this system in place, even if their method of accepting payment is through a mobile phone swipe system.
Risks of Being out of Compliance
There are great risks involved for not being in compliance. These risks go far beyond any fees or fines. Until this system was put into place, it was the cardholder’s banks that generally took care of any fraudulent charges. Sometimes they got their money back and sometimes they didn’t, but in the end it was largely the bank or other credit card lender who took on the cost of these fraudulent activities.
Today, since there is a solution in place to curb fraudulent transactions, the powers that be may no longer require the banks to absorb these costs. Instead, it will be the responsibility of the merchant who was not in compliance with an EMV solution, which is a more secure way of processing credit card payments. That means merchants may have to pay thousands upon thousands in order to keep operating.
Be Sure You’re in Compliance
There are several things you can do to make sure you are in compliance. To start with, call your payment processing service and find out if your system is EMV compliant. You can also physically check your equipment by looking for the chip slot usually located at the bottom of the swiping machine. If you have gotten your system within the past year, it is most likely in compliance, but it doesn’t hurt to check.
Those who have a mobile phone swiping system and don’t use it frequently are probably more at risk than most other merchants. Contact whoever provides your payment processing solutions to see if your system is in compliance.
If not, ask for an updated version of the software and/or hardware that is used to process cards for your business. This might also be a good time to switch companies, if you feel like you’re paying more for credit card processing than you would like. Contact Leap Payments today to see how they can help you improve your payment processing methods.
