The Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Premian Basin advise all retail businesses to get new EMV chip card readers installed by the end of October 2015. By the end of 2015, 70 percent of credit cards and 40 percent of debit cards in the U.S. will have embedded security chips called EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa). EMV cards will eventually replace magnetic stripe cards completely. In fact, many banks and credit unions are already issuing EMV cards to current account holders.
The EMV cards allow consumers to use their cards globally and makes in-store transactions more secure. They also help reduce credit card fraud and identity theft. The chip generates a unique, one time code that is difficult to counterfeit but is needed for each transaction to be approved.
October 1, 2015 was the deadline for American businesses to adopt these readers. With the passing of this date a “liability shift” has occurred that moves the responsibility for covering losses to the business when fraudulent charges occur. If a business does not have the new EMV reader, they are liable for the cost of any purchases made with the counterfeit card. In other words, the card issuer will not longer absorb the loss.
Emv Readers cost around $25 (for a basic device that plugs into a smart phone), and go up to about $300 for a counter top model with all the “bells and whistles.” If you are in need of a new EMV reader or have more questions please feel free to contact us at Insignia Payment Solutions today!