• Every Merchant Should Read This •
Why do I care about EMV?
Starting October 2015 credit card payment networks have implemented liability shifts. Normally, the card issuer is liable for fraudulent transactions. However, after the liability shift is implemented, if the merchant’s point of sale terminal does not support EMV, then mechant will be liable for the fraudulent transaction.
What is EMV?
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, a global standard for inter-operation of integrated circuit cards (IC cards or “chip cards”) and IC card capable point of sale (POS) terminals and automated teller machines (ATMs), for authenticating credit and debit card transactions. The standard is now defined and managed by the public corporation EMVCo LLC. EMV specification are being phased in across the world, under names such as “IC Credit” and “Chip and PIN”.
What is Apple Pay?
Apple Pay is Apple’s mobile wallet. It allows consumers with certain iOS devices to store their credit or debit card details securely in digital format and then use the device to make in-store, in-app or eCommerce purchases. Apple Pay is designed to replace plastic cards with digital equivalents. When a consumer uses Apple Pay to make a purchase, they will still be paying with their credit or debit card of choice, but instead of using a plastic card, they can complete that purchase using their iOS device.
How do Apple Pay and other NFC devices work?
For in-store transactions, Apple Pay uses NFC capabilities built into iPhone, Android, and other devices. When the consumer is ready to complete an in-store payment at a retailer who has an EMV/NFC enabled payment system, the consumer simply selects the desired payment account in their Apple Pay application, holds their finger on the TouchID sensor and waives or taps the phone against the merchant’s NFC reader. The iOS device transmits a one-time use payment token to the merchant’s payment system and the merchant’s payment system sends that token to their payment processor just like they would if they swiped the card through the payment terminal. From a merchant’s perspective, the transaction works the same way it would if the merchant had swiped the card using the magnetic stripe reader (except without the actual swipe). Because Apple Pay takes advantage of payment tokenization developed by the card brands specifically for use with NFC readers, it is a highly secure form of payment since the cardholder’s actual account number is never transmitted and the token can only be used for a one-time purchase.
How can Swipe Merchant Services Help?
Swipe can help you with the transition to EMV and support for Apple Pay by providing EMV/NFC terminals, Pinpads and Payments gateways now! We also provide processing through Elavon, which is setup to support EMV and Apple Pay.
