If your business accepts a credit card that was lost, stolen or fraudulently replicated, your business may be financially responsible for all losses.

What is EMV?

EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa, commonly referred to as EMV, is the future of credit and debit card acceptance in the United States. EMV cards are embedded with a “smart chip” that securely stores cardholder data and requires authentication with every transaction. Your customers insert the “chipped” end of the credit card into the smart chip reader found on your EMV ready terminal and the card remains there for the duration of the transaction. This allows the chip to create a unique, one-time use digital signature for that specific transaction, which the terminal is able to read, decipher and encrypt. In turn, this direct communication between the card and terminal greatly minimizes the risk related to fraudulent transactions. Further, the data transmitted by the EMV chip card is constantly changing, making it nearly impossible to replicate.

Why Does It Matter?

With the launch of EMV technology also comes a shift in liability. Merchants who are not EMV ready by October, 2015, may assume applicable liability when accepting credit cards, which could be very costly. If your business accepts a credit card that was lost, stolen or fraudulently replicated, your business may be financially responsible for all losses. Thus, protect yourself and your business by being ahead of the curve and make sure you have the right equipment to ensure your business’ financial wellbeing.