As of October 1, 2015 merchants who take Credit Cards as a method of payment are being required to implement EMV standards, contrary to what most think, this is a requirement and not merely a suggestion. Europay, MasterCard, Visa or EMV represents the coalition of card brands that established and developed the specifications that are currently being implemented in the US. This mandated criteria takes merchants into an arena of protection for its clients by implementing chip processing cards rather than magnetic stripe cards, which inhibits data breaches of card information reducing card fraud. According to an article presented in the Federation of American Scientists, citing a Congressional Research Service report [1] "... the liability for fraudulent transactions involving magnetic stripe cards would shift to the entity card issuer (e.g., bank, credit union or merchant) that had not yet made the transition."

Herein lays the impending urgency for merchants; to establish the transition needed to keep business running smoothly, without interruption or increased costs, as the new technology and payment procedures are adopted for these standards. It is estimated that by the year-end, 90% of consumers will have chip encoded cards which will demand merchants to be prepared for these transactions or lose revenue, potentially be fined, but most importantly lose customer trust if these new practices are not met as consumers become more diligent about their demands for security.

Currently it appears that finding a suitable approach for this transition has been daunting as Merchant Processing Companies may be persuading businesses to use so called, "semi-integrated" solutions, selling it as an instant problem solver when in fact, this is not the case. POS companies are also claiming that a solution is underway but as we all know, nothing is for free and these larger entities already charge their clients thousands of dollars for their existing products. However, there is refreshing news for merchants in that finally true integrated solutions have just emerged into the market. This type of tool is a cutting edge implementation of technology that takes current POS system data and migrates the communication with a chip processing device allowing for a streamlined process that meets regulations, consumer demand, and the bottom line for merchants.

The time is now for merchants of all types, with a variety of revenue centers to understand the pressing urgency for this "Liability Shift"[2] established in 2015. Reducing the financial impact of card fraud while abiding by world standards of practice and supporting the ever-increasing demands of consumers is essential in the market-place and can be accomplished by properly researching for new cutting edge technologies that bring true solutions. Investing time on the onset will greatly impact the bottom-line and insure success as these transitions take place.

[1] The EMV Chip Card Transition: Background, Status, and Issues for Congress https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43925.pdf

[2] Understanding the 2015 U.S. Fraud Liability Shifts http://www.emv-connection.com/downloads/2015/05/EMF-Liability-Shift-Document-FINAL5-052715.pdf