Universal now offers EMV Chip and smart card processing. Now there's no need to swipe cards on a stand-alone terminal in order to be EMV compliant. Universal now offers the option of seamless integration with ChargeItPro card processing so that you can accept both credit and debit cards.
But what's all this hoopla about EMV processing anyway?
The Hoopla
Although EMV chip cards are fairly new in the United States, Europe has been using them for years. Why is EMV so popular? It's because EMV processing is designed to dramatically reduce card fraud. While nothing can absolutely guarantee fraud prevention, card fraud has been greatly reduced in Europe after they transitioned to EMV card acceptance.
And here's the bottom line: Starting back in October 2015, there was a liability shift for merchants. This means that a company processing credit cards without utilizing EMV could / would be liable for any counterfeit smart card transactions. So basically a company would be "on the hook" for a fraudulent transaction.
How Chip Card Processing Works
Chip-based debit and credit card transactions have a global standard known as EMV. What does EMV stand for? It stands for Europay, Mastercard, Visa. These are the three companies that originally created this standard. EMV is a technical standard for smart payment cards and the payment terminals and automated teller machines that accept them.
What makes these cards "so smart", you ask? Smart cards, also known as chip cards, store their data on integrated circuits in addition to magnetic stripes. The chip is encrypted with this data, and it takes an EMV-enabled device to read the data stored on the chip. When a transaction is authorized, strong cryptographic functions are used in order to validate the authenticity of both the card and the cardholder. In other words, the chip card sends data using a variable algorithm that changes with each transaction. Pretty slick, huh?! And this chip is said to be much more difficult, if not virtually impossible, to counterfeit, another big plus.
Another plus? The card is inserted or tapped by the customer, with no handoff of a card number to a cashier and no swipe, further reducing opportunities for fraud.
So, let's boil it down. Before October 1, 2015, any time a consumer's credit card was duplicated and used for purchases, the bank would refund the fraudulent purchase to the store because the presumption was that the bank could have done more to prevent the fraudulent transaction from occurring by verifying the cardholder's identity. After October 1, 2015, that liability for fraud shifted from the bank to the store or business in cases where the bank has provided an EMV credit card but the store did not upgrade their processes to incorporate an EMV terminal.
OK, I get it. Now what?
You have choices: Make arrangements to become EMV-compliant, or fly by the seat of your pants and hope that no one ever presents a counterfeit chip card at your store or business. Okay, so let's be serious. There's only one viable choice. Take steps now to become EMV-compliant. The transition isn't difficult and you'll be able to sleep better once you know that you've done everything you can to protect your business from fraud liability.
For more information, contact us at 201-313-0040 Ext. 203.
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