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EMV Transition Has Been A Nightmare For Businesses. This Guide Should Help.

EMV Chip Card

EMV Transition Has Been A Nightmare For Businesses. This Guide Should Help.

EMV Chip Card

 

Transitioning to accept EMV chip cards has been a nightmare for businesses, small and large. And the result of this confusion has been loss of millions of dollars and growing, in fraudulent chargebacks!

So here is a must-read EMV transition guide that will walk you through everything you need to know step-by-step.

What is EMV?

EMV stands for Euronet, masterCard and visa. It is a security standard adopted by the payment industry to reign in on billions of dollars of credit card frauds committed every year in US alone. This security standard has been adopted in most parts of the world, but is still fairly new to the United States. It just had it’s first year anniversary.

EMV is also popularly referred to as ‘chip card’ as well.

Why should I upgrade my equipment?

For starters, EMV Compliance is NOT a law as many people assume. You are not doing anything illegal if you still using the old “Swipe and Sign” process on your terminal or integrated POS.

However, it is important to know that you will be held liable for any fraudulent transactions that happen at your location because you did not upgrade to an EMV compliant equipment.

Previously when you fell victim to a chargeback, the issuing bank investigated and based on the proof submitted, covered you for the disputed amount.

But starting October 1, 2015 the responsibility has been shifted to the merchant or the one with the weakest link in the payment process.

The image below is a great illustration to help you understand these changes:

emv-email-img-blog-1

 

Chargebacks have been on rise exponentially, in thousands of dollars every month, especially at Lounges/Bars, High-End Restaurants, Liquor stores and Gas stations.

A discovery channel video below shows how easy it is for credit card fraudsters to make fake credit cards and use at your locations.

How to upgrade and how much it cost?

The first step to upgrade to EMV is to understand your needs. Do you need to be able to accept EMV chip cards only or you need to adjust tips as well on those EMV transaction.

Or you  want your customers to enter their debit card PIN on those EMV transactions?

There are various different features that you need to be aware of and then decide the terminal model.

Especially if you are a business that takes tips.

Not ALL terminals support tip adjustment at the end of the day. It depends on the type of terminal and the processor that supports it.

There are 2 components that make up your EMV compliance.

  1. Hardware – The equipment needs to have the slot to enter the chip card
  2. Software Certification – Software needs to be certified by the processor for that particular hardware to accept EMV.

Every processor supports different terminal/hardware for EMV and Tip Adjust. So for example, if Ingenico ict220  is supported by First Data for EMV + Tip Adjust, does not mean all other processors will support the same hardware for EMV + Tip adjust.

The terminals below are certified by First Data to accept chip cards.

  1. Verifone Vx520 – Accepts chip cards, Accepts Tip adjust after the sale.

           Recommended for restaurants or businesses that accept tips.

 

Verifone Vx520

 

 2. Ingenico ict220 – Accepts EMV chip cards + Tip adjust.

Recommended for businesses that need to accept tips.

 

Ingenico 250

 

Approx: $250

3. Clover Mini – Accepts EMV chip cards with Debit PIN + Tip adjust, Apple Pay and Android Pay and can connect using Wi-Fi.

Features to Note:

  1. Customer can sign using their finger on screen and opt for text, email or paper receipt.
  2. Clover Mini can also be connected to cash drawer and replace your old cash register.
  3. Retailers can also download Register software and turn this into a full fledged POS SYSTEM.

Recommended for any businesses that need to accept debit cards with PIN, better receipt management or POS functionality.

clover-mini

Approx: $450

  1. FD 130 – Accepts EMV chip cards + Tip adjust, Apple Pay, Android Pay and can be connected using Wi-Fi.

Recommended for businesses that need to accept tips, and Debit PIN

FD 130 EMV

 

Approx: $350

Once you figure out what features you need and what terminal you want to buy, it’s time to go shopping.

BUT, let me warn you – Don’t just buy from the cheapest place you can find. You might buy something that’s totally worthless for you. Not all equipment will work with your processor. Usually, the terminals are locked to a specific processor just like how your cell phone is locked to works with a certain wireless provider.

Don’t just buy from the cheapest place you can find. You might buy something that’s totally worthless for you. Not all equipment will work with your processor. Usually, the terminals are locked to a specific processor just like how your cell phone is locked to works with a certain wireless provider.

Usually, the terminals are locked to a specific processor just like how your cell phone is locked to work with ONLY certain wireless provider.

Option 1:

If you already have a service provider you can call them and ask for their pricing but make sure they are not locking you in multi-year processing contract, a lease or any monthly rental fee.

It’s ALWAYS best to buy your own equipment. Not only will you get the best deal on your processing but you have the flexibility to move your processing to someone else and use the same terminal.

The saying ” There is NO free lunch” cannot be more true in credit card processing industry.

A brand new Verifone VX520 should not cost you more than $250. If the provider quotes anything more than that, here are two things you should do:

  1. Buy your own terminal online and stay with your current company if you are happy with their processing rates. But before you place an order, ask your processor if they support Verifone Vx520 or any other terminal you wish to order and will provide all the features you need.

Pitfalls to look out for while ordering online:

  1. Never buy a used terminal as they may be locked to work with certain processor only.
  2. Avoid buying from Ebay, Craigslist, or Amazon or any other reseller sites. Many companies will sell you very cheap just so they can get you into processing agreement with them. Just make sure you do your homework.
  3. Look for a new company that will provide a terminal at a fair price or subsidized price for the equipment.
  4. While hardware equipment is one component of your merchant account, processing rates are something that must NOT be ignored.

Always make sure you are getting a fair deal without any contracts. To understand a little more about the same, definitely read through our post on how to get best deal on your merchant processing.

Or better, subscribe to our FREE Savings course and learn how to save ridiculous amount of money on credit card processing by clicking  HERE.

We hope this guide was simple to understand and will help you in implementing the EMV migration successfully.

We here at Onesto Payments believe in absolute transparency and love to educate our customers. Feel free to contact us to get our equipment and credit card processing rates. You will be glad you did.!

 

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The EMV Liability Shift Checklist For Small Businesses

The EMV Liability Shift Checklist For Small Businesses

Running a small business efficiently is a tough job. But becoming liable for credit card frauds that might occur during business makes the going a lot more tougher. As the EMV chip cards come to the United States, it is time to prepare yourself for small changes that will only reduce fraud and boost your customer confidence at the point of sale.

EMV checklist for small businesses

Here’s your 4 step EMV liability shift checklist that you must get started with right away:

1. Educate yourself

With the US liability shift getting introduced, small businesses that are generally unprepared will face the risk of scams. The best way to protect yourself and your business from this is to understand how the EMV chip card technology works, stay up-to-date with US liability shift policies and know exactly what to expect from chip enabled terminals or payment processors.

2. Create a robust EMV Enablement Plan

Look for a provider that can supply you with an EMV enabled card reader who can support contactless payments and traditional magnetic stripe cards. While the upgrade is important for securing your business, keeping the customer’s needs in mind is also a wise idea. Get a clear picture of the time, money and training necessary to ensure a smooth transition, and how the provider will help you with it.

3. Ask more questions

Hold a discussion with your payment processor and ask him questions around enhancing security and how they will help you reduce the point of sale transaction fraud. Some point of sale providers have integrated payment processing that simplify the transactions as well as save time.

4. Find what suits you the best

Gather price quotations from payment processors and assess the costs. The cost of upgrading to EMV point of sale technology can vary greatly based on the quality of the software, as well as the features, functionality and the level of support offered by the provider. While doing your research, keep in mind the reliability of the hardware, ease of use and the type of support that will be available to you right from the beginning of the transition.

And most importantly, lookout for hidden fees. Reliable POS providers will not just help you understand the entire process, but will also offer a transparent pricing model.

Time to protect yourself from frauds and get ready for a positive business year ahead!

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5 Myths about EMV Credit Card Processing for small business

5 Myths about EMV Credit Card Processing for small business

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.

EMV Credit Card Processing Myths

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?

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A complete guide for Merchants to accept EMV payments

A complete guide for Merchants to accept EMV payments

Small businesses can’t ignore the fact that EMV payment method is going to be implemented for all credit cards.

I am carrying five credit cards, and banks have already upgraded my three cards with EMV technology. When I go shopping, I always prefer that my card is being inserted into EMV machine.

What is EMV?

EMV is a new technology with chip-based credit cards. You know very well about the black color magnetic strip on the credit card that is swiped at the POS terminal for processing the payment. EMV is additional microcomputer chip on the credit card that makes customer information more secure.

Magnetic strip based credit cards became vulnerable to the hacker world. According to research by Business Insider, US alone suffered the loss of 7.1B from credit card fraud in 2013.

payment-card-fraud

Magnetic strip bases cards have poor security. Fraudsters can copy data stored in a magnetic strip with simple and inexpensive card reader machine. Do you remember listening to songs from tape cassettes? It is as simple as copying songs from one tape cassette to another using recorder machine in old times.

Let me touch base how EVM ensures security without going into many technical details. EVM chip stores customer data and creates dynamic cryptograms when the card is used at any payment terminal. Cryptograms are digital security patterns that change after each purchase. This makes almost impossible for fraudsters to make counterfeit credit cards.

EMV is taking over US credit card market

Credit card users are getting more aware about their financial security and safety. Credit card companies are issuing new credit cards with EMV as embedded security. Millions of EMV cards have been issued by credit cards companies and they are aggressively upgrading existing cards.

According to chase bank, most of the customers will have EMV cards by October 2015

chase-payments

All new POS terminals have EMV processing capabilities by default. You can still process payments by a swipe with new POS. All leading retailers like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Starbucks, Subway, and Bestbuy are upgrading to new POS or already upgraded.

“No one wants to lose the customer because they don’t have EMV card payment processing machine. “

How Authorization works with EMV

  1. Chip and Pin

Credit card is inserted into EMV enabled POS machine, and customer has to enter PIN for authorization. That’s new security measure taken by banks which is now accepted worldwide. Credit card will not be charged if the customer doesn’t enter PIN.

  1. Chip and Signature

This is somewhat similar to swipe cards with the difference that card is inserted into EVM machine. Customer signatures are required for authorization.

  1. No CVM

Banks have waived off authorization for the minimum amount of payments. These limits vary with the bank to bank. For example, banks may auto authorize payment up to $20 without any additional authorization from the customer.

Benefits of EMV enabled POS.

  1. Become part of EVM growth story

October 2015 is last date to compliant with EVM enabled POS machines. Why wait for last date when you can get the benefit of technology from today itself. All businesses need to stay ahead in competition.

Adopt latest technology to become part of payments growth story.

  1. Reduce the chances of fraud and security related issues.

Customer and Merchant both sleep peacefully when their financial information is secured. EMV can help fighting with fraudulent transactions. It is almost impossible to replicate chips and steal PIN passwords. The only possible way of fraud is customer’s negligence. Banks are spreading awareness for customers, but you have to be prepared at your end by upgrading to the latest technology.

  1. Merchants qualified for additional benefit plans

Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express have issued plans to support merchants who are using EMV payment solutions. Visa introduced U.S Technology Innovation Program; merchants are qualified if 75 percent of all transactions originate through chip-based devices.

merchant-qualification

  1. Limited fraud liability

As EMV penetration grows, credit card frauds will be prevented to a great extent, at least for point of contact sales. In case of counterfeit fraud, payment brands will impose liability to merchants who are not using EMV based payment methods.

Banks will not take responsibility for fraud after October 2015. It’s wise to invest in chip-enabled technology today than regret for a financial loss tomorrow.

What Merchants need to do?

You can find a variety of EMV capable smart terminal like Clover Mini, Verifone vx520, Ingenico iCT220. Get in touch with POS provider who can guide you through available options in the market.

EMV payment technology is cheaper and easier for merchants to install than ever before.

How to upgrade your hardware to EMV payment system?

  • Check you Hardware

Make a list of your existing hardware. Do you have a stand-alone system? Do you have canned or drop-in system?

  • Discuss your requirements with POS provider

You can better understand your business, but a reliable payment processing expert can match the best POS system with your business. Tell him how your customers prefer to pay and how many transactions you process on a monthly basis. Show him list of hardware you already have.

They can suggest you if your business needs an altogether new system, or additional equipment can be installed with your existing setup.

  • Purchase hardware

Compare the prices including installation costs. Purchase hardware and software required to process payments.

  • Ask for support and training

Just buying hardware is not sufficient. Ask for after sales service, support, and training. Don’t hesitate to pay extra if you have to buy additional support. It is worth when you have customers lining up for payment, but your payment system stops working.

How does right payment partner look like?

  • Honest

I would choose honest and reliable payment partner every time. The market is crowded with payment processing vendors, and it’s difficult to filter out who is genuine. You must meet a couple of people to find out the truth. Don’t fall into the trap of cheap quotations.

  • Who understand your business

Choose someone who understands your business. Someone who already served other customers in your industry. Every business have different needs. A good payment partner will showcase all products and suggest best fit for your business.

  • Provide right information at the right time

You need someone who can tell you upfront about the pros and cons of payment system. It is no fun in business if you get surprises after investing your money.

  • Minimize overall cost

Payment systems are complex because it is bundle of hardware, software and communication networks. Mobile payment solutions like apple pay, google wallet and Samsung pay are changing the way payments are done.

You might consider paying extra today to avoid the hassle of another upgrade after few months. Think about minimizing overall cost considering future requirements.

  • Minimize delay in install & support

A good payment partner will never let you down when your systems are down. Find someone who can install new system quickly and always available for support.

Over to you

Payment processing is the lifeline of your business. Don’t delay in taking essential steps to upgrade to the latest technology. Banks are upgrading customer’s credit cards so you should also upgrade your payment processing systems.

You will not have choice after October 2015. It also takes time for employees to learn new systems.

You focus on your business and let your payment processing worries to us.

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