EMV Merchant Liability Shift Archives -

Understandably, one of the biggest concerns about the EMV changes that take effect here in the U.S. on October 1st is the impact of the merchant liability shift.

Right now, as it has been for the longest time, card issuers are the ones who bear the brunt of most credit card fraud.

Starting October 1st, this will change. Under certain conditions, card issuers are no longer going to cover a merchant’s risk associated with transactions that result in fraud.

So what are those conditions? We’ve developed a simple chart to give you a concrete understanding of the different possible scenarios and how they will affect merchants that accept credit cards. Continue reading “EMV Merchant Liability Shift: Who Covers the Cost of Credit Card Fraud Starting October 1st?” →

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It won’t be just any old Thursday. Come October 1, 2015, the U.S. will flip the switch to a three letter acronym we all should get used to hearing: EMV.

Named after its original developers, Europay, MasterCard and VISA, EMV is a set of specifications for chip cards and the devices — such as point of sale payment terminals — that are used to accept chip card payments.

Why the change? EMV chip technology is proven to significantly reduce card fraud resulting from counterfeit, lost and stolen cards.

If you haven’t already, you’ll soon see:

Consumers whip out new chip cards to make in-store purchases.
Merchants with new point of sale terminals that accept chip cards.
Chip cards being inserted into terminals instead of being swiped.

You’ll also see the emergence of contactless payment methods — like Apple Pay — where customers make purchases by holding their contactless card or mobile phone in front of a reader — rather than inserting a card.

With all these changes comes, of course, plenty of questions. Fortunately, there is no shortage of guidance.