In March of this year, I discussed the upcoming deadline for businesses to change to EMV technology, and the date to do so is now here. Failing to update your processing equipment can be costly if fraud is found to have occurred.
The technology upgrade from accepting cards with a magnetic stripe to cards with chips offers greater protection because EMV chips are more secure and harder to counterfeit. The new standard is called EMV which stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa. This technology is already in use in over 80 countries, and the United States is finally migrating to this technology as well.
The switch to EMV technology means a change in liability for credit card fraud. Currently, if an in-store transaction uses a counterfeit card, the losses from the purchase are incurred by the issuing bank in most cases. However, as of October 1, 2015, the liability will shift to whichever party is least EMV compliant. Therefore, your processing terminal must be EMV-compliant and capable of reading the chips embedded on credit cards.
If you need more information on this topic, attend a webinar hosted by the SBA and Square EMV 101 What Small Businesses Need to Know About the Switch to Chip Card Technology.
The SBA and Square have teamed up to offer a free webinar to help small businesses across the country navigate the upcoming transition to EMV chip card technology. Topics covered include what the transition to EMV chip card technology means for small businesses; what EMV chip card technology is and why it’s more secure; and how to prepare for new fraud liability rules impacting merchants beginning October 1, 2015. Registration is free but required. Click here to register.
You can also view an August 26th archived version of this webinar now or download a copy of the presentation here.
Please make sure you have the newest equipment to avoid being the one held liable for credit card transactions deemed fraudulent. Contact your credit card processor today!
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