EMV Payments 102: Advanced Studies

In last week’s blog, we covered the basics of EMV.  This week, we’ll take a look at some of the most important factors to consider for those affected by the Great Liability Shift, with a particular focus on our specialty: kiosk systems. As we said in our EMV 101 blog, the reason banks and card issuers are now able to shift liability for fraudulent activity to merchants is that chip systems and cards are supposed to offer a much greater level of security than those with traditional magnetic stripes. This liability is essentially a penalty for not upgrading to an EMV-capable, “chip and pin” POS system.

Although much of the discussion around this shift has been from the perspective of retail merchants, kiosk operators must also comply with the new EMV standards. In fact, there are a number of factors that require consideration when choosing a fully EMV-capable device for kiosk integration. Rob Chilcoat, President of North American Operations for UCP Inc., a leading manufacturer of EMV-compliant hardware and payment gateway solutions for unattended card payment terminals like those used in kiosks, talked about these “levels” in a recent guest blog for KioskIndustry.org:

1. Device physically meets EMV specs for chip and/or NFC processing
2. Device’s firmware performance meets EMV processing specs
3. EMV-ready device is “married” by a developer to compatible software and commits to certifying it with a processor and card brands (Visa, Mastercard, etc.)

What other EMV compliance standards now need to be considered?

Beyond these initial levels of EMV compliance are two more hurdles to overcome, according to Jeremy Gumbley, CTO of CreditCall, UCP’s recommended vending machine and kiosk payment services provider.  In a 2014 interview published on Kiosk Marketplace, he stated that:

1. Hardware and software must be continually updated with the latest EMV standards.
2. Kiosk operators need to ensure that all card transactions are secure.

Gumbley also suggests that kiosk operators utilize point-to-point encryption technology (P2PE). This allows for immediate card number encryption, and therefore secure transmission over the network to the processor for decryption.

Feeling more knowledgeable about EMV?  Better prepared for The Great Liability Shift?  We hope so.  But if you still have unanswered questions, RedyRef is here to assist companies of all sizes that are undergoing the EMV transition; just give us a call at (800) 628-3603 and we will be happy to help.  Already know what you need and are ready to select a kiosk hardware solution?  Simply submit a request for proposal online and our team will be with you every step of the way.