Visa announces EMV roadmap to the United States

By Parker Burke

Visa recently outlined a roadmap to EMV (EMVCo) contact and contactless chip acceptance in the United States.  While additional information is likely forthcoming from Visa and others, there are some key takeaways for customers in the retail fueling industry:

• Visa’s acceleration of contactless chip acceptance will likely help mobile payments penetrate the market more quickly.
• ­          Beginning October 1, 2012, if at least 75% of a retailer’s payment transactions occur at payment terminals that are chip enabled, the Visa Technology Innovation Program (TIP) removes the requirement for annual PCI-DSS compliance validation
• ­          By April 1, 2013, U.S. acquirer processors and sub-processor service providers are required to be able to support merchant acceptance of chip transactions
• ­          POS: October 1, 2015: liability shift for any in-store fraudulent transactions on non-EMV chip-enabled terminals  
• ­        Forecourt: October 1, 2017:  liability shift for any fraudulent transactions at fuel dispensers on non-EMV chip-enabled terminals 

While the retail industry awaits additional guidance from Visa, industry trade organizations (like NACS) have already begun to comment on Visa’s announcement, PCATS Executive Director Grey Taylor weighed in on the announcement: 

“NACS welcomes the migration from the current, unsecured payment system but is anxious to learn what financial incentives will be offered to convenience and fuel retailers to defray the huge cost of upgrading 800,000 dispensers and 300,000 points of sale,” said PCATS Executive Director Gray Taylor. “If Visa is coming to the market with reduced interchange, indemnification on fraudulent use of their products and relief for the retailer’s huge annual expense for PCI compliance, then we think there is a value proposition here. Without any one of these elements, it will be hard to justify the upgrade," he said, adding, "It is frustrating that Visa is still obsessed with dynamic account values, while doing nothing about authenticating the card user. EMV without user authentication only addresses part of the data security challenge.”

While the industry will likely wait for things to shake out before acting on their installed bases, many in the payment industry, such as WorldPay, have begun encouraging retail fueling owners and operators to strongly consider EMV-upgradable equipment as they evaluate new hardware purchases.  This upgradable hardware will help retailers take measures to future-proof their investments against future mandates and emerging payment technologies like EMV, mobile payments, and others.