What is EMV?
EMV chip technology is becoming the global standard for credit card and debit card payments. Named after (Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®), this technology utilizes embedded microprocessor chips that store and protect cardholder data. This standard has many names worldwide and may also be referred to as: “chip and PIN” or “chip and signature.”
What is EMV/Chip technology?
EMV technology is an evolution in our payment system that will help increase security, reduce card-present fraud and enable the use of future value-added applications. Chip-enabled cards are standard credit/debit cards that are embedded with a microprocessor chip. Some may require a PIN instead of a signature to complete the transaction process.
What makes EMV different than the traditional magnetic stripe card payment?
Simply put, EMV is the most recent advancement in a global initiative to combat fraud and protect sensitive payment data in the card-present environment. Payment data is more secure on a chip-enabled payment card than on a magnetic stripe (magstripe) card, as the former supports dynamic authentication, while the latter does not (the data is static). Consequently, data from a traditional magstripe card can be easily copied (skimmed) with a simple and inexpensive card reading device – enabling criminals to reproduce counterfeit cards for use in both the retail and the CNP environment. EMV technology is effective in combating counterfeit fraud with its dynamic authentication capabilities ensuring the authenticity of the card.
What does EMV migration mean for card-not-present (CNP) merchants?
As EMV technology is adopted in the card present space, it is expected that fraud will also shift to the least secure channels, including CNP/eCommerce. From an online fraud perspective, it’s important that CNP businesses be prepared for this anticipated shift, as experienced in other regions that have already migrated toward chip card technology.
As fraud migrates online and fraudsters continue to get more sophisticated, the tools you have in place now may no longer be advanced enough to protect you and your customers. The strategy is key and it’s imperative to take the extra measures to know your customers their behavior. It is recommended that you avoid the use of Address Verification (AVS) and Card Code Verification Values (CVV) checks as your sole fraud detector since the false positive exposure can be high with these tools alone.
Tools such as 3D Secure utilize SSL technology while adding an authentication step to provide a standardized and secure method of performing eCommerce transactions. By requesting further payment authentication, 3D secure recreated the security of a physical payment environment.
These tools will help reduce eCommerce fraud while having no negative impact on your customers’ experience. Having the ability to control your fraud prevention at the business level, without the required assistance of IT support or third-party vendors, helps to ensure that your non-fraudulent transactions are processed without issue.
Additional strategies to reduce the risk of eCommerce fraud:
- Achieve and maintain PCI Compliance
• Keep your shopping cart software updated
• Always require Address Verification (AVS) and Card Code Verification (CVV)
• Limit the number of declined transactions
• Keep a list of confirmed fraudulent transactions
• Require strong passwords for customers
• Utilize MasterCard SecureCode or Verified by VISA (3D Secure Tools)