EMV deadline is approaching. Is your business ready?
Finally the time has come for the shift from magnetic stripe credit cards to EMV chip cards. But many business owners are still under the perplexity whether making the shift would be good for their business or not?
The following blog post discusses the importance of EMV cards and their long-term benefits for your business.
Introduction
According to a report in April 2015, 48% of businesses are still not aware about the shift to EMV card terminals and the ones with a bit of information are reluctant in doing so.
Although your business can continue to work without it but it certainly cannot afford hacks and frauds. The liability shift deadline for EMV cards is Oct 1 else your business would have to suffer from chargeback and fraudulent transactions.
Change is good. Change is powerful and this is probably the best time of the year to make a change- a positive change for your business.
Let’s have a look why the shift is important?
How are EMV cards safer?
EMV (short for Europay, MasterCard, Visa) cards is no different from the standard “swipe-and-sign” cards except that they offer a higher security.
What makes it safer is the small but smart microprocessor computer chip which is embedded in the card. The reason it is almost impossible to counterfeit these cards is the unique code generated every time any transaction has to be done. This code provides validation for only one time use which makes it incredibly authentic.
How much will a new EMV card reader cost?
Well, this entirely depends on the provider. For example, if you buy it from Intuit you would get it for around $30 which can be plugged into mobile devices. Other companies like Chase Paymentech, First Data and VeriFone are selling a full –size version with Wi-Fi enabled chip terminals in the range of $150 to $300.
Why should you make the switch?
The most important reason is the safety against frauds and forgeries. If you soon make a switch it will not just attract more customers for your business but also retain the old ones because safety is the first and the last priority of every customer.
Another amazing fact is most EMV chip terminals will also accept NFC based mobile payments for Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Therefore, you will attract all sorts of customers including the ones who wish to choose latest tech innovations to make payments.
What if you don’t make a switch?
No one can force you to do so. But if you don’t make a switch voluntarily, then probably you will lose many customers. Moreover, your business will be more vulnerable to frauds and can be counterfeited easily.
Moreover, most businesses are ready to make the switch and even many banks are issuing their customers with the EMV chip debit and credit cards. So, there is nothing wrong in making the shift.
