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December 2016

Why Your Business Needs to Accept EMV/Chip Credit Cards

​Credit card security is a serious issue. Remember the 2013 Target credit card hack? There are far too many malicious entities out there who do whatever they can, to steal coveted credit card information from consumers for their own ends. In 2013, the cost of credit card fraud in the United States rose to an intimidating $11 billion.

Preventing credit card fraud is a matter of the utmost concern for card issuers. Recently, major card issuers like American Express have begun to issue credit cards that are EMV chip enabled. This new technology provides better security against theft and fraud, and consumers are quickly beginning to favor chipped cards for this reason.

For these chip cards to work, merchants need to update their point of sale systems. If you’re not making the switch to EMV-friendly POS systems, your business could be left behind in the dust as consumer demand for chips rises.  While most large merchants are already on board, many smaller retailers are still catching up.

Here are some of the biggest reasons why you need to start accepting EMV credit cards:

1) They help you fight back against fraud.

EMV cards have small chips embedded inside them. These chips generate unique information for each transaction, making it much harder for fraudsters to steal credit card information and create counterfeit cards. To accept these cards as payment, you will need an EMV-enabled point of sale system. These have special slots in them, and software equipped to process the embedded chips.

2) Your customers want it.

Your customers are quickly adopting EMV credit cards to protect themselves against credit card fraud and identity theft. As this process continues and the cards become more widely used, merchants that can’t accept EMV cards will be left out. Customers are beginning to expect retailers to accept this safer form of credit card payment, and they might not want to buy from you if you don’t have the equipment to do so.

3) It reduces your own liability.

As of October 2015, businesses that are not able to accept EMV cards could be held liable for certain kinds of fraudulent transactions. When you’re running a small business, every dollar counts, and you may not be able to afford this kind of liability.