You are working hard to make your business successful. If you are running a restaurant then you always think to add new delicious item to your menu, you are concerned about cleanliness of your restaurant, you keep your customers happy, you reply to every yelp review and you work day & night on marketing your business.

You are most likely to succeed, but there are little other things that you should be aware of to avoid any unexpected losses.

“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”

— Colin R. Davis

Starting Oct 2015, credit card fraud liability is shifting to merchants if any fraud happens at your location while using non-EMV compliant credit card processing terminal. For example, if you swiped a counterfeit credit card at your business instead of using chip (because your payment processing system is not EMV enabled), then you will be held liable for the loss.

It’s better safe than sorry. Small businesses like restaurants, café, retail stores and pubs should consider an upgrade to EMV enabled credit card processors before Oct 2015.

There are few myth’s attached to EMV credit card processing.

Myth 1: There is no business loss by ignoring EMV upgrade

Truth is that you may incur losses in case of fraudulent transactions if happen at your credit card terminal. You will not be able to argue with credit card issuing bank or processing company for the misuse of card. Earlier it was their responsibility to refund theft amount to the customer but now you will have to incur the losses happened at your terminal.

Myth 2: EMV upgrade require compliance with PCI (Payments Card Industry)

No compliance is mandatory with PCI. Your credit card processing will be more secure after upgrade to EMV technology. Also note that you will not become automatically compliant with PCI if you upgrade to EMV, if you wish for compliance then you have to apply separately.

Myth 3: Magnetic Strip cards can’t be processed with EMV machines

You can still process magnetic cards with your EMV enabled credit card terminals. Magnetic cards are not going to disappear immediately, but banks will keep upgrading credit cards to EMV.

Myth 4: EMV will be enforced on Restaurants by government

No government agency is going to enforce you to upgrade to EMV. It is not a federal or state law. EMV upgrade is encouraged by payment industry to safeguard business’, banks and customers from fraud. Banks or credit card service provider will not take the liability of credit card fraud. That is the biggest reason of upgrading to EMV enabled POS terminals.

Myth 5: Customers don’t have EMV cards

As per estimates, 20-30 percent of the credit card issued in US EMV enabled cards. Banks are issuing new cards with EMV and number of EMV cards are increasing at fast pace. It’s very likely you have at least one chip card in your wallet. Customers also feel secure when they use chip cards. If they have multiple credit cards in their wallets they will more inclined to use card with EMV chip..

As a business owner, you don’t want to land into a situation where you have to incur losses due to small ignorance. Upgrading to EMV not only  makes your payment environment secure but also assures your customers,  you care about their financial security.

When it snows, you are the first one to spread salt since  you don’t want your customers to fall and get hurt. Why not protect yourself and your customer from financial hurt by upgrading to EMV?