NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Research In Motion approved for use with Visa payWave, Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale

San Francisco, January 10, 2012

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave. The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry® Bold^TM 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry® Curve^TM 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

“This is an important step for Visa, its financial institution partners and the mobile industry,” said Bill Gajda, Global Head of Mobile Product, Visa Inc. “In addition to issuing plastic magnetic stripe or chip-enabled payment cards, financial institutions can now consider offering their accountholders a way to transform their smartphones into fully functional mobile payment devices.”
Visa’s certification of these smartphones paves the way for mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.

Visa’s Certification Process
Visa has played a leadership role in establishing global standards for mobile payments, making sure that they are aligned with existing technology and security standards for chip payment cards and can easily be integrated into the existing payments ecosystem. For example: Visa payWave on mobile devices is compatible with existing contactless (NFC) payment terminals already installed at retail outlets worldwide, enabling Visa accountholders to simply wave their enabled phone in front of a payment terminal in order to pay.

Visa has a compliance testing process for both mobile devices and the secure elements that host the Visa payWave mobile application. The process includes extensive technical and usability testing with respect to the Visa mobile payment functionality. This helps to ensure reliable and secure Visa transactions which are compatible with the global standard for chip-enabled payments, and establishes a required signal range for all mobile (NFC-enabled) Visa payment devices. Visa’s compliance testing process helps to ensure the combination of the phone; secure chip and Visa’s mobile payment application will provide the level of security and user experience Visa accountholders have come to expect from Visa.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the momentum we are seeing behind NFC as an industry standard for mobile payments,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst Yankee Group. “Yankee Group predicts that the value of NFC-based transactions will grow significantly, from $27 million in 2010 to $40 billion in 2014.”

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CenPOS, an innovative payment processing platform and gateway, now supports Ingenico Telium based terminals. The new Telium line replaces the popular Ingenico i3070 and i65xx, including the i6580, which are are approaching their end of life cycle.  The Telium based terminals support various forms of multimedia and have a vibrant display that can be used for flashing advertisements and other forms of messaging at the point of sale.

Looking forward to future payment acceptance methods, including NFC, the Telium series supports:

• Smart card reader
• Magnetic card reader
• Contactless reader

CenPOS Supported Telium terminals:

iSC250/350 http://www.ingenico-us.com/isc350-isc350_28.html?lg=US&productId=150

Ingenico isc350

iPP320/350 http://www.ingenico-us.com/ipp300-series-pin-pad-ipp300-series_28.html?lg=US&productId=156

The i6560 and i6580 are all-in-one terminals. The pin pad is built into the device. The pin pad is a separate device for this new solution. There are pro’s and con’s to the two piece, but in a busy retail environment, the benefits outweigh a single piece by far.

• Every retailer can probably recall a time where their terminal pin encryption was blown due to power surge or other reasons. Because the injection can only be completed at an approved secure facility, this meant sending out their entire unit for a period of time for repair.  That’s an expensive asset to have out of commission. Now merchants can simply send the pin pad out for repair.
• When a merchant changes payment processors, they need a different pin injection. The two piece solution enables merchants to send out the pin pads for injection without shutting down operations, providing more long term flexibility.

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3D Merchant Services provides terminals at wholesale prices to all CenPOS clients.

About CenPOS : “Creating efficiencies through payment innovation”Founded in 2009, Miami-based CenPOS is a payment technology provider committed to providing its customers and partners with innovative solutions for today’s rapidly evolving consumer payment choices. CenPOS is an intelligent payment-processing network that streamlines the payment experience for businesses and consumers by using state-of-the-art technology to replace inefficient, outdated payment systems.

CenPOS sales: Christine Speedy direct (954)942-0483, HQ (305) 630-7960, or toll free: (877) 630-7960.

Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. NFC has three uses:

1. Connect electronic devices
2. Access digital content
3. Contactless transactions

NFC has been available with MasterCard Paypass for years. NFC can be used for mobile phone payments, in conjunction with an electronic wallet. Google launched it’s Google Wallet in early 2011. There are significant limitations at this time, however, Google developed the operating system for the Android smart phones and recently also purchased Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5B. With that heavy investment, plus Visa and MasterCard’s push, we can expect some adoption of the technology.

Will NFC become the US standard for mobile payments? I have my doubts. Visa announced incentives for merchants to offer NFC in August 2011.  I predict that there will be heavy penetration in US market for chip-enabled credit cards but that chip enabled mobile payments may remain elusive as the leading mobile solution. SMS can be used with any cell phone and wouldn’t it be better to reach everyone, rather than the minority few worldwide that have the ‘right’ device? Plus, at this point, there is not even consensus on NFC standards. With Google controlling manufacturing, we can expect they will exert some control over future standards.

• Merchants will need to buy or update equipment. Most units retail for over $700 per unit, excluding a receipt printer.  Major department stores may have the capability, but most other businesses do not.
• Merchants need to interface with technology to process the transactions. For example, CenPOS.
• Consumer needs to have an NFC device. Smart phones only account for 1 in 4 mobile phones as of 2011. NFC capable smart phones is a tiny fragment, with the first units just being tested mid-year 2011.
• Japan is arguably the most advanced cell phone market on earth, yet NFC is not widely used. Instead SMS is king.

Is NFC secure? This is an age old argument. NFC is not new technology but then again,  the US infrastructure for payment processing has had little to no innovation in the last three to four decades. Personally, I’m not trusting NFC with my cell phone.

Is NFC good for merchants? Yes. Merchants may benefit in the future if interchange is adjusted lower to reflect the purported lower risk associated with EMV chip credit and debit cards. Additionally, Visa is waving PCI DSS, however, MasterCard and American Express have not offered the incentive.

Recommended Articles

Is NFC Secure Enough?
NFC is way overhyped, says mobile payment leader Sybase

Credit Cards to become obsolete? by CBS News
NFC (Near Field Communications) – Was this near sighted?, by Oracle

Approved Contactless EMV reader Products, by EMVco, which is owned by American Express, Visa, JCB, MasterCard et al to maintain global standards.

Visa is announcing plans to accelerate the migration to contact and contactless EMV chip technology in the United States. The adoption of dual interface chip technology will help prepare the U.S. payment infrastructure for the arrival of NFC-based mobile payments by building the necessary infrastructure to accept and process chip transactions.

Not only will chip technology accelerate mobile innovations, it is also expected to secure payments into the future through the use of dynamic authentication. Chip technology greatly reduces a criminal’s ability to use stolen payment card data by introducing dynamic values for each transaction. Even if payment card data is compromised, a counterfeit card would be unusable at the point-of-sale without the presence of the card’s unique elements. By eliminating static authentication, we reduce the value of stolen cardholder data, benefiting all stakeholders.

Visa’s plan includes merchant incentives to upgrade to EMV chip-enabled terminals, requirements for acquirer processors to support chip acceptance and the introduction of U.S. liability shift policies. Specifically, Visa will waive PCI DSS compliance validation requirements to encourage merchant investment in contact and contactless chip payment terminals. Visa will also require acquirer processors to ensure their systems support dynamic data acceptance, i.e., chip, and will institute a domestic and cross-border counterfeit liability shift.

Infrastructure Upgrade and Dynamic Authentication Benefits
The adoption of chip technology based on global standards will help prepare the U.S. payment infrastructure for the arrival of Near Field Communication (NFC)-based mobile payments, given that the underlying processing infrastructure and required back-end systems are the same as for EMV chip cards. Additionally, in a card- present or physical POS environment, EMV chip technology has proven to be the most effective and broadly adopted dynamic data authentication solution available in the marketplace today.
EMV chip technology is already being used around the world to facilitate contact, contactless and mobile payments, and has been leveraged for emerging complementary services like public transit, Internet and mobile banking. Based on extensive research and the positive experience expressed by many major countries, Visa will promote the broad adoption of EMV chip technology in both contact and contactless / mobile form factors for card-present transactions across all markets, including the U.S.
As the POS payment infrastructure continues to evolve from the static magnetic stripe to intelligent devices such as EMV chip cards and NFC mobile phones, it is critical to ensure that cardholders can continue to make convenient, secure and reliable payments for card-absent transactions as well.
Visa’s new digital wallet with “click-to-buy” functionality will be able to support dynamic authentication across multiple channels, including the e-commerce environment.

Visa will also enhance intelligent network-based fraud detection tools, such as Visa Advanced Authorization, to complement dynamic and risk-based authentication methods.
Visa Public 1
Roadmap for U.S. Migration to Dynamic Authentication Solutions
Visa’s plan to encourage U.S. adoption of dynamic EMV chip authentication technology includes the following three initiatives:

1. Expand the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to merchants in the U.S. For more information, refer to the 9 August 2011 Visa Bulletin “Visa Expands Technology Innovation Program for U.S. Merchants to Adopt Dual Interface Terminals.”
2. Build the processing infrastructure for chip acceptance by establishing a U.S. acquirer processor EMV chip processing requirement. For more information, refer to the 9 August 2011 Visa Bulletin “Visa Sets U.S. Acquirer Processor Mandate for Chip Transaction Processing.”
3. Establish domestic and cross-border POS counterfeit liability shift policies. For more information, refer to the 9 August 2011 Visa Bulletin “Visa Announces U.S. Participation in Global Point of Sale Counterfeit Liability Shift.”

Over the coming months, Visa will provide technical guidance to issuers, acquirers, processors and merchants to support payment system participants as they execute these actions.
While stakeholders collectively prepare for the future, Visa will continue to secure the current payment environment by:

• Providing effective network-based risk management services, like Visa Advanced Authorization and Transaction Alerts
• Ensuring that all participants do their part to protect sensitive cardholder data by, at a minimum, complying with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)
• Evaluating and promoting new security solutions, such as encryption and tokenization, as they emerge. Next Steps

Over the coming months and years, Visa will make adjustments to its products, operating regulations and security programs to help consumers, issuers, acquirers and merchants adopt dynamic authentication solutions. This effort will also require the participation of many key entities; Visa is committed to working with its stakeholders to further develop the industry’s U.S. and global roadmap to adopt EMV chip technology.

Download PDF of this Visa 2011 Chip Migration & Mobile Payments Merchant Bulletin

ViVOtech Ships EMV Payments and NFC mCommerce-Ready Reader

ViVOpay 8100 Designed to Meet Visa Technology Innovation Program; Potential Savings to Merchants of $2 Billion Annually by Eliminating PCI-DSS Validation Cost

SANTA CLARA, CA–(Marketwire – Aug 17, 2011) – ViVOtech, the near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, today announced the immediate availability of a new point of sale (POS) terminal for payments and NFC mobile commerce that could save eligible merchants more than $2 billion a year in annual Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) validation costs under a Visa Inc. initiative.
ViVOtech’s new ViVOpay 8100 terminals accept traditional swipe cards with magnetic stripes, chip cards, contactless cards, and NFC-enabled mobile phones, as required by the Visa initiative announced last week to accelerate the migration to Eurocard-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) contact and contactless chip technology in the United States.

To motivate merchants, Visa announced on August 9, 2011: “Effective October 1, 2012, Visa will expand its Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to the U.S. TIP will eliminate the requirement for eligible merchants to annually validate their compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard for any year in which at least 75 percent of the merchant’s Visa transactions originate from chip-enabled terminals. To qualify, terminals must be enabled to support both contact and contactless chip acceptance, including mobile contactless payments based on NFC technology.”

The industry association Smart Card Alliance estimates annual PCI-DSS fraud-protection validations cost businesses more than $2 billion a year.

“Viva Visa!” said Michael (Mick) Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech, which has shipped more than 850,000 contactless and NFC readers worldwide. “It’s about time the U.S. joins the rest of the world, which has been using highly secure contact and contactless chip technology for nearly a decade. We applaud Visa’s efforts to advance adoption here. And, we have the affordable technology available today in the new ViVOpay 8100 for merchants to take advantage of Visa’s incentives while benefiting from rich NFC mobile commerce.”

Much More than EMV-Ready
The new ViVOpay 8100 includes ViVOtech NFC checkout technology that enables merchants to accept and process coupons, personalized offers, loyalty programs and payments through the merchant’s proprietary mobile applications.

With the ViVOpay 8100, consumers just insert, swipe or tap their payment cards, or tap their NFC mobile phones to pay or electronically redeem a coupon or discount voucher. The device also accepts Personal Identification Number (PIN) entry for secure debit transactions. Combined with ViVOtech’s mLoyalty, coupons, and social networking software, the ViVOpay 8100 allows merchants to deliver personalized services to customers’ NFC-enabled mobile phones.

The ViVOpay 8100 works with the most popular payment terminals and electronic cash register (ECR) systems used by merchants today, adding powerful new capabilities that include:

* PCI 2.1 certification: Highly secure PIN pad provides protection from obsolescence beyond 2014.
* Integrated mobile payments and promotions module: Built-in support for NFC mobile payments, marketing and loyalty programs.
* Support for multiple transactions: Enables Chip-and-PIN and signature-based credit and debit transactions using mag-stripe, contactless and NFC mobile phones.
* ISO 14443 contactless and ISO 18092 peer-to-peer NFC, and MiFare Technologies.
* Remote download: Post-deployment firmware updates via remote download eliminate the need for additional hardware or device resetting.
* Customer-friendly keypad: Compliant with standards for the visually disabled, with a recessed keyboard providing maximum privacy.
* Advanced connectivity: Ethernet connectivity along with serial and USB communication support for multiple connectivity options to work with a versatile set of mobile-enabled applications.

The ViVOpay 8100 is designed to meet Visa Technology Innovation Program (TIP) requirements as well as support new NFC-based mCommerce opportunities. The new reader comes with a secure 32-bit ARM9 processor, the Linux operating system, 16MB Flash, 32MB SDRAM, as well as integrated EMV smart card, contactless NFC and mag-stripe readers. To learn more or to purchase the ViVOpay 8100, visit: http://www.vivotech.com/products/vivo_pay/vivopay_8100.asp.

About ViVOtech
ViVOtech, the near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, enables rich mobile commerce solutions for in-store payment, loyalty, marketing, and merchandising. Merchant, payment, mobile, web and advertising companies use ViVOtech solutions to enhance customer experience and grow their business. ViVOtech’s NFC software and systems are the broadest, most tested and deployed worldwide. Founded in 2001, Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech provides the key building blocks of the NFC ecosystem: smart applications for enhancing the customer experience, wallet and trusted service manager (TSM) software, and point of sale systems. ViVOtech’s investors include Alloy Ventures, Citi Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham, EDBI, First Data Corporation, Miven Ventures, Motorola Mobility, Motorola Solutions, Nokia Growth Partners, NCR, SingTel Innov8 and Sprint. Join the NFC revolution at

Ingenico Reacts Positively to Plans by the Card Association to Bring Smart Card technology to the U.S; Added Security Features to Reduce Card Fraud for Retailers and Cardholders

Atlanta, GA — August 16, 2011. Ingenico, the leading worldwide provider of payment devices and services, reacted positively to the recent announcement by VISA Inc. to accelerate the migration to EMV contact and contactless chip technology in the United States. Boasting the largest installed base of EMV-enabled terminals (over 15 million) globally, Ingenico sees the arrival of the smart card technology as the next logical step in preparing the U.S. payments ecosystem to benefit from the international interoperability and newly emerging non-traditional NFC-enabled mobile payments technology. The EMV and other next generation chip-based payment technologies will enhance the current payment infrastructure in the U.S. by positioning it to accept and handle chip transactions, and securing payments through the use of dynamic card authentication. The added security features that promise to reduce the impact of card-based fraud will benefit both retailers and cardholders.

With our global presence and multiple successful EMV card migrations around the world, including most recently Canada, we have accumulated an unparalleled level of EMV expertise and knowledge,” said Thierry Denis, president of Ingenico, North America. “We fully understand chip-based technology benefits for retailers and cardholders and are uniquely qualified to lead the U.S. migration to EMV and contactless acceptance. Not only will chip technology reduce fraud levels for merchants and card issuers, it will also provide American consumers with the flexibility and convenience to use their payment cards outside of the U.S. where they can not currently do so. ”

For the past 12 months Ingenico has been anticipating and preparing for the migration of EMV card technology in the U.S. and serves on many committees to bolster broader awareness of this technology. Ingenico is the only terminal manufacturer represented on the EMVCo. Board of Advisors, the governing body of the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for chip-based payment cards and acceptance devices, and is a member of the Leader Council of the Smart Card Alliance, a non-profit association driving the understanding and adoption of smart card technology in the U.S.

With VISA’s moves to accelerate EMV and mobile payments adoption in the United States, now is the time for EMV-savvy leaders of the acceptance market to step up to the challenge and provide the education, support and programs needed to help merchants ensure a smooth transition,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance.

Driven by its strategic vision based upon innovation and security, Ingenico has successfully helped shape the migration and development of chip-based smart card payment infrastructure for its customers around the world. Today, the company continues on its path of innovation by responding to rapidly changing customer needs with high-performing products and innovative solutions needed to support the new forms of payment including mobile, contactless and NFC.

Ingenico has made significant changes to its product mix and organization in North America during the first half of 2011. We are growing in capacity, but more importantly we are adding critical industry expertise such as EMV and NFC to our already capable team,” said Gregory Boardman, senior vice president of Product & Development, Ingenico, North America. “Through investment in new contact and contactless technology, people and processes, we are well-positioned to help U.S.-based customers migrate to EMV and NFC acceptance. Our entire line of TELIUM products, which is certified to the latest PCI security standard, comes standard with integrated EMV card readers and options for integrated NFC acceptance. ”

Visa is announcing plans to accelerate the migration to contact chip and contactless EMV chip technology in
the U.S. The adoption of dual-interface chip technology will help prepare the U.S. payment infrastructure for the
arrival of Near Field Communication (NFC)-based mobile payments by building the necessary infrastructure to
accept and process chip transactions.

Not only will chip technology accelerate mobile innovations, it is also expected to enhance payment security
through the use of dynamic authentication. Chip technology greatly reduces a criminal’s ability to use stolen
payment card data by introducing dynamic values for each transaction. Even if payment card data is
compromised, a counterfeit card would be unusable at the point of sale (POS) without the presence of the
card’s unique elements. By eliminating static authentication, we reduce the value of stolen cardholder data,
benefiting all stakeholders.

Visa’s plan includes merchant incentives to upgrade to EMV chip-enabled terminals, requirements for acquirer
processors to support chip acceptance and the introduction of U.S. liability shift policies.

Specifically, Visa will waive Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance validation
requirements to encourage merchant investment in contact and contactless chip payment terminals. Visa will
also require acquirer processors to ensure that their systems support dynamic data acceptance (i.e., chip) and
will institute a domestic and cross-border counterfeit liability shift.

Visa’s Counterfeit Liability Shift Policies

Visa intends to institute a liability shift in the U.S. for domestic and cross-border counterfeit transactions
effective 1 October 2015. Visa’s global POS counterfeit liability shift policies are designed to encourage EMV
chip card issuance and acceptance in participating geographical regions, effectively creating a more secure
environment for transactions within and between each participating Visa region. Note: The liability shift
encourages chip transactions because any chip-on-chip transaction (i.e., a chip card read by a chip terminal)
provides dynamic authentication data, which helps to better protect all parties.

With this type of liability shift, the party that is the cause of a chip-on-chip transaction not occurring (i.e., either
the issuer or the merchant’s acquirer) will be financially liable for any resulting card-present counterfeit fraud
losses. When a transaction occurs using chip technology, any liability for counterfeit fraud, though unlikely,
would follow current Visa Operating Regulations.

The policy assigns liability for counterfeit fraud to the party that has not made the investment in EMV chip cards
(issuers) or terminals (merchants’ acquirers). The policy encourages wider deployment of EMV cards and
terminals.

EMV chip implementation is accelerating globally. Today, excluding the U.S., 44 percent of all cards are EMV
chip cards, and 74 percent of all terminals are EMV chip-capable, with 62 percent of cross-border transactions
conducted with a chip card at a chip terminal.

U.S. Participation Introduced in Global Counterfeit Liability Shift Policy

Visa plans that effective 1 October 2015, the U.S. will be included in the Global POS Liability Shift Policy, which
will apply to all issuers and merchants’ acquirers in the U.S., with the exception of transactions at Automated
Fuel Dispensers (AFDs). Transactions made at AFDs will be excluded from the liability shift for a period of two
(2) years due to the challenges faced by the petroleum industry in upgrading terminals to accept EMV chip
cards. Similarly, effective 1 October 2017, transactions made at AFD terminals will be included in the Global
POS Liability Shift Policy.

Note: This liability shift policy change excludes counterfeit fraud at U.S. ATMs. Visa will continue to evaluate
the potential for an expansion to include ATMs.

Preparing for Payment Technology Evolution

As the U.S. point-of-sale payment infrastructure continues to evolve from the static magnetic stripe to intelligent
devices such as EMV chip cards and Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile phones, this liability shift policy
change will help ensure that the acceptance infrastructure is ready. It will also allow acquirers, merchants and
issuers to invest in new technology to ensure that cardholders can continue to make secure and frictionless
transactions across all channels.

Visa dynamic authentication roadmap will reduce fraud and enhance international acceptance

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced plans to accelerate the migration to EMV contact and contactless chip technology in the United States. The adoption of dual-interface chip technology will help prepare the U.S. payment infrastructure for the arrival of NFC-based mobile payments by building the necessary infrastructure to accept and process chip transactions that support either a signature or PIN at the point of sale.

“By encouraging investments in EMV contact and contactless chip technology, we will speed up the adoption of mobile payments as well as improve international interoperability and security,” said Jim McCarthy, global head of product, Visa Inc. “As NFC mobile payments and other chip-based emerging technologies are poised to take off in the coming years, we are taking steps today to create a commercial framework that will support growth opportunities and create value for all participants in the payment chain.”

Not only will chip technology accelerate mobile innovations, it is also expected to secure payments into the future through the use of dynamic authentication. Chip technology greatly reduces a criminal’s ability to use stolen payment card data by introducing dynamic values for each transaction. Even if payment card data is compromised, a counterfeit card would be unusable at the point of sale without the presence of the card’s unique elements. By reducing static authentication, we diminish the value of stolen cardholder data, benefiting all stakeholders.

“Dynamic authentication is the key to securing payments into the future,” said Ellen Richey, chief enterprise risk officer, Visa Inc. “Adding dynamic elements to transactions makes account data less attractive to steal and takes more merchant systems out of harm’s way, shrinking the battlefield against criminals. The migration to chip technology will be an important security layer and a critical step in a comprehensive strategy to use dynamic authentication across all markets and all channels.”

Globally, Visa will continue to support a range of cardholder verification methods including signature, PIN and no-signature for low-value, low-risk transactions. In the longer term, we expect that the use of static verification methods such as signature and PIN will be reduced or eliminated entirely as new and dynamic forms of cardholder verification are implemented.

Visa’s plan to encourage the U.S. adoption of dynamic chip authentication technology includes the following three initiatives:

• Expand the Technology Innovation Program to Merchants in the U.S.–Effective October 1, 2012, Visa will expand its Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to the U.S. TIP will eliminate the requirement for eligible merchants to annually validate their compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard for any year in which at least 75 percent of the merchant’s Visa transactions originate from chip-enabled terminals. To qualify, terminals must be enabled to support both contact and contactless chip acceptance, including mobile contactless payments based on NFC technology. Contact chip-only or contactless-only terminals will not qualify for the U.S. program. Qualifying merchants must continue to protect sensitive data in their care by ensuring their systems do not store track data, security codes or PINs, and that they continue to adhere to the PCI DSS standards as applicable.
• Build Processing Infrastructure for Chip Acceptance — Visa will require U.S. acquirer processors and sub-processor service providers to be able to support merchant acceptance of chip transactions no later than April 1, 2013. Chip acceptance will require service providers to be able to carry and process additional data that is included in chip transactions, including the cryptographic message that makes each transaction unique. Visa will provide additional guidance as part of its bi-annual Business Enhancements Release for acquirer processors to certify that their systems can support EMV contact and contactless chip transactions.
• Establish a Counterfeit Fraud Liability Shift — Visa intends to institute a U.S. liability shift for domestic and cross-border counterfeit card-present point-of-sale (POS) transactions, effective October 1, 2015. Fuel-selling merchants will have an additional two years, until October 1, 2017 before a liability shift takes effect for transactions generated from automated fuel dispensers. Currently, POS counterfeit fraud is largely absorbed by card issuers. With the liability shift, if a contact chip card is presented to a merchant that has not adopted, at minimum, contact chip terminals, liability for counterfeit fraud may shift to the merchant’s acquirer. The liability shift encourages chip adoption since any chip-on-chip transaction (chip card read by a chip terminal) provides the dynamic authentication data that helps to better protect all parties. The U.S. is the only country in the world that has not committed to either a domestic or cross-border liability shift associated with chip payments.

Today’s announcement builds on similar international programs to encourage the migration to EMV chip. In February 2011, Visa announced the Technology Innovation Program for international merchants. The program, which was available beginning March 31, 2011, was intended to recognize the security benefits of dynamic authentication, enabled by EMV chip, and offer tangible benefits to merchants who update their POS infrastructure to accept chip cards. Visa has now expanded this program to include U.S. merchants, but will require terminals to support both contact and contactless chip payments.

Moving forward, as the point-of-sale payment infrastructure evolves from the static magnetic stripe to intelligent devices such as EMV chip cards and NFC mobile phones, it is critical to ensure that cardholders can continue to conduct convenient, secure and reliable payments for card-not-present transactions as well. Visa is designing its new digital wallet with “click-to-buy” functionality able to support dynamic authentication across multiple channels including the eCommerce environment. Visa will also continue to enhance intelligent network-based fraud detection tools such as Visa Advanced Authorization and cardholder transaction alerts to complement dynamic and risk-based authentication methods. As always, effective fraud prevention requires multiple layers of security.

Industry Support

Today’s announcement supports an increasing interest in chip technologies from across the industry:

• “As the leading global foodservice retailer, McDonald’s already has a great deal of experience with chip technology, including in the U.S. where we have deployed contactless chip terminals to help us serve our customers even faster,” said Dave Weick, Chief Information Officer and SVP Shared Services, McDonald’s Corporation. “We’re pleased that Visa has provided a roadmap that will allow us to move towards the next generation of payment technology, while at the same time take advantage of the security benefits of EMV chip and dynamic authentication.”
• “Visa’s plan to encourage chip adoption and lay the groundwork for mobile payments is a positive development,” said Kevin Knight, executive vice president, Nordstrom, Inc. “We appreciate their efforts to promote improved technology so that our customers have more reliable and secure card use and payment for their purchases.”
• “There is no security silver bullet. But smartcards and smartphones using EMV adds a strong layer for payment transaction security as well as online banking, access to medical records and more,” said George Peabody, director, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service, Mercator Advisory Group, Inc. “The roll-out of EMV in the U.S. gets much needed dynamic data into the authentication mix. This is a welcome step toward lowering fraud at the point of sale and online. It’s time.”

To read more, visit the Visa Viewpoints Blog at http://blog.visa.com/.

Click to Tweet: Visa plan to accelerate U.S. EMV chip migration, supporting mobile payment infrastructure, int’l acceptance and security bit.ly/qsFzDA.

About Visa Inc.: Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

SOURCE Visa Inc.