What is EMV?

EMV chip technology is becoming the global standard for credit card and debit card payments. Named after its original developers (Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®), this technology features payment instruments (cards, mobile phones, etc.) with embedded microprocessor chips that store and protect cardholder data. This standard has many names worldwide and may also be referred to as: "chip and PIN" or "chip and signature." 

Why the change to EMV?

Simply put, EMV is a global initiative to combat fraud and protect sensitive payment data in the card-present environment. Payment data is more secure on a chip-enabled payment card than on a magnetic stripe (magstripe) card, as the former supports dynamic authentication, while the latter does not. Consequently, data from a traditional magstripe card can be easily copied (skimmed) with a simple and inexpensive card reading device – enabling criminals to reproduce counterfeit cards for use in both the retail and the CNP environment.

In October of 2015, there was a chip liability shift in the United States. With this shift, merchants who have not made the investment in chip-enabled technology may be held financially liable for card-present counterfeit and potentially lost and stolen fraud that could have been prevented with the use of a chip-enabled POS system.

Am I required to support EMV?

No, you are not required to support EMV. However, in addition to fraud liability, you may be putting yourself at risk in the future, as fraud will migrate to the weakest technology, even if you haven’t experienced high card present fraud in the past.

Which EMV-ready devices and processors are currently supported by Heartland Retail?

EMV-ready devices are currently supported for use with Heartland Retail. Here are a few related articles:

EMV hardware compatible with Vantiv
​Clover Mini payment device
​EMV hardware and Blackline's Econduit Gateway

Support for additional EMV-ready devices maybe be available. Please contact us for more information.