EMV – Letting the dust settle
Saturday, January 21st, 2017Well it’s been over a year since the EMV/ Chipcard reader deadline has passed. Everyone had hoped for a much smoother transition to using the new chip cards. I expected it to be a short term headache, and it turned out to be a long term one instead. Below are some of the issues merchants have experienced with EMV: Here at Your Merchant Company, we’ve found solutions to these issues. Make sure to contact one of our merchant servicers to get some free advice!
1. Lack of POS integrated devices – One of the biggest shockers was how unprepared card reader manufacturers were for EMV integration. Of course they blamed the POS developers which in turn blame the processors. So it was and still is a fun game of “pass the blame”. Most POS systems now require merchants to plug in a stand alone EMV terminal. Very few swipers that connect directly to POS have chip reading technology. In fact the only ones that do are actually for mobile apps, not full POS systems like Micros, Aloha, Lavu, or ShopKeep.
2. Increased liability – Thats right, now merchants pay for chargebacks and/or disputes if the card was not properly accepted. Meaning business MUST use a chip reader if the credit card has a chip. If not the business will automatically lose any chargebacks and disputes. The new policy is that cut and dry. Sometimes the issuing bank initiates a dispute without a customer’s knowledge. Just because they know it was swiped and not dipped (term for using chip reader). This is a sneaky practice that is being investigated by industry groups. SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE PROTECTED AND CALL TODAY FOR A FREE CHIP READER UPGRADE!
The good news is companies are finally catching up to the required technology. It will be a while before full POS integration is met, but in the meantime there are some great chip reader solutions that Your Merchant Company can provide. There are mobile EMV readers, and many affordable EMV terminals that will accept chip cards as well as ApplePay and Google Wallet.