Start Worrying About EMV Transition in October 2015

Starting in October 2015, EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) liability for credit card data breeches will shift from the processor to the retailer.

Technically, the language reads that the "most insecure" in the processing chain is responsible for breech, which extends financial liability back to the business accepting the credit card.

If you're a small business in the Vancouver, Washington or Portland, Oregon area that accepts credit cards, this transition affects you. There are three components of this transition that you must be aware of:

1. Your POS Readiness. The software and hardware that runs your point of sale system must be upgraded to support upcoming changes, including accepting new chipped cards. You should understand your vendor's upgrade schedule and look for gaps in that upgrade process. 

2.  Your PCI-DSS Compliance Status. The Payment Card Industry have implemented technical and administrative standards that help reduce risk of data breech. Not understanding your PCI-DSS status is a demonstration of managerial negligence that can expose your company. 

3. Training. The way you accept credit cards is going to change. With the new chipped cards, you dock the card instead of swipe it; phones will become methods of payment; banks are in the process of replacing cards and activating phone payment solutions; very soon, consumers are going to be showing up at your door expecting to use these new systems. You and your team should be ready.

Mickler & Associates, Inc. can help you with all three components of this problem. Please contact us for a no-cost discussion to see how we can help out.

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