Did you know that there is a major change facing small business owners who accept credit cards? Beginning on October 1, 2015, you and your customers will stop swiping credit cards. Instead, credit cards will be equipped with a small computer chip that is nearly impossible to counterfeit. These new cards are called EMV cards.

What is EMV?

EMV stands for “Europay, MasterCard and Visa”. It establishes a world-wide standardized protocols for the EMV cards and the hardware to accept these cards. The goal of these cards is added security against credit card fraud from counterfeiting. Right now, 37% of all U.S. credit card fraud is a result of counterfeiting.

Today, if an in-store transaction is conducted using a stolen or counterfeit card, consumer losses usually fall on the payment processor or issuing bank. After the October 1 deadline.  if your business hasn’t invested in EMV-enabled terminals, the cost of fraud will be on you, the business owner. This liability shift has the potential to impact most small businesses financial resources.

The first step to successful change management is information. Take a few minutes to read the articles below to start your education on the pending EMV change.

Is Your Business Prepared For The End of the Swipe-and-Sign Credit Card?

Beginning later this year you (and your customers) will stop swiping credit cards. Soon, credit cards will be equipped with a small computer chip that is nearly impossible to counterfeit.

U.S. banks are on the verge of adding EMV technology, which stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa. Soon, credit cards will be equipped with a small computer chip that is nearly impossible to counterfeit. The U.S. is the last major market that still uses the outdated swipe-and-sign system. This is an easily overlooked, but significant change to the payments landscape. Read more…

Small businesses slow in converting to EMV card readers

Small businesses are viewed as especially vulnerable to missing the Oct. 1, 2015, deadline to upgrade their card readers to accept microchipped credit cards using a more secure technology known as EMV. It may involve more than just swapping card readers, because often a business’s card readers tie in with other software….many stores are underestimating the time and expense associated with the switch. Read more…

Here’s a quick timeline for EMV Chip Card Liability Shift in the US:

Business owners will have to prepare and put in effort to put the new EMV card system together. You will have to order the new technology, account for it financially, and set it up. Then, you will have to spend time training your employees on how to use the new equipment. Of course, all these steps have to happen simultaneously to your current daily operations. Change is neither easy nor simple, is it?

Are you ready for the new EMV technology?