What is EMV?
EMV is defined as: Europay, MasterCard and Visa. It is collaboration between these 3 companies to bring consumers a new card with an integrated chip designed into the card itself. Instead of the signature and the ‘swipe strip’, it will be replaced with a smart chip to tether in fraud and theft. It will bring thievery to a virtual halt, and fraud may very well be a thing of the past.
The EMV Credit Card Machine
With the chip, each purchase is encrypted and read differently every time. The card giants are encouraging machine owners to get the technology updates and begin receiving these cards. Machine prices are going to be $200 and up, depending on the type of operating system they need. Merchants need to be aware that a machine adaption will be required to access the money from the customers they will be serving.
Europe began this transition several years ago and has already decreased their fraud and information thefts. The United States has been dragging their feet, but as 2013 started, new regulations have come to light. For the next four years, deadlines have been laid out and America must comply, and come on line, so to speak, to catch up with the rest of the world.
People are in need of their cards, and the businesses need to see the options for machines, to decide what they can afford, and what they need to process these cards.
EMV Capable Merchant Account
Card companies are making incentives available to its merchants that begin to transition to the new EMV technology. They are waiving fees to those that are using the dual contactless machines. Making it possible for the merchant to process both types of cards until the whole system across the nation has transitioned over. With the waving of some of the fees, the companies have also made it possible for the merchant to make enough to purchase the new machines for the cards.
With an incentive like that, why wouldn’t you want to move over? And even better, when a person introduces the business with the new smart cards, they can be rest assured that it is less likely to be stolen. With all the technology built in, the system helps everyone.
EMV is on its way
It may take the banks, High Risk Merchant Accounts, and the consumers a little while to get all of the cards and readers up and running. But in the near future, the smart chip will enable all of us to breathe just a little better than we did. The strip will no longer tangle us in technology thievery and the chip brings us into a whole new world. After the transition is over and merchants find what machine’s they need, we all can take a sigh of relief. Maybe we can even look forward to fees that are less. After all, with the costs down for the card issuers, they should be able to pass it forward.