EMV: Who Gets the Liability?

I was recently at the NACS Government Relations (GR) conference in Washington, DC. The day before, they educated us on the issues and some really surprised me. One being, the shift of liability on inside sales in October 2015. Most retailers see this as needing to upgrade their POS pin pads if they are not EMV ready/compatible. However, there has been no word from Visa/MasterCard or the processing banks as to when the networks will be able to accept EMV Chip-and-Pin. What does this mean in layman's terms? Well, the concern is if a stolen EMV card is used in a store (and at the pump in 2017), we are fully liable. Most of the developed world is now using EMV with both Chip-and-PIN and have seen dramatic reductions in fraud activity when both Chip-and-PIN are implemented, sometimes even eliminating most all fraud.

What had retailers up in arms at NACS are the costs our industry is incurring by having tp upgrade to EMV without really reaping the full benefits. It’s just like buying a high-end sports car, capping its full capabilities to only half its top speed, with the manufacturer telling the consumer that they are having some software issues, but at some point in the future will be able to give you access to the full capabilities of your engine. However, they still require you pay full sticker price without any discounts. Except with EMV, the money keeps flowing out via card chargebacks.

Our Northern California NACS GR group visited nine congressional offices. We met with key staffers and in four instances were able to meet with the congressperson as well. Our group found some very receptive ears and felt some progress was made to influence the legislative powers to consider our concerns. However, we still need your help with this grassroots cause. In the meantime, when the haze starts to clear up on what exactly will come to be this October and beyond, we may call out to our CIOMA members to voice their concerns to their congressional representatives and senators.