In a recent blog, we asked an AVPS colleague to report on how a variety of businesses in her area were adapting to the required transition toward EMV chip card processing. As we’ve reported extensively, EMV chip cards are now considered the accepted standard for secure payment processing. While her experiences highlighted the rocky transition that even national retailers face during this migration, it also highlighted how even the smallest local businesses have easily converted to EMV.
This month, we asked her to take a second look around her community, specifically at businesses that have yet to adopt EMV processing. Specifically, we wanted to know whether they understood the reality of EMV, how their credit card transaction security shifts liability, and what is preventing them from finally adapting to this new standard. While most seemed to be well on the way with planning their EMV transitions, she did find one business that seemed like the ultimate contradiction in security mindedness versus EMV initiative.
The business in question was a local liquor store chain with approximately 12 locations. She visited three of their locations, and all were using severely outdated credit card swipers, with no EMV slot. She also reported that they were connected to significantly older registers via long, telephone-like cords, and the units were passed to customers to enter pin numbers for debit transactions. This clearly makes it easy for savvy hackers to plant cloning devices. What surprised her was that when it came to credit card processing, they had numerous clearly stated signs requiring ID, and employees were 100% consistent, going so far as to record license numbers on each and every credit receipt. When she inquired about the lack of EMV, it seemed like upper management was in no hurry to invest in or adapt to new equipment. They seemed to have an attitude of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Her experiences demonstrate that many businesses still don’t “get” how the move to EMV affects them. That’s why we continue to be passionate advocates and educators so that our clients get the best credit card transaction risk management solutions. If you’re struggling with understanding how and why you need to adapt EMV chip card processing, let us help. Call us today for a consultation and we can get your business seamlessly compliant.
