PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Sept. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With the move to EMV chip-based payments accelerating in the United States, the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council has re-released an updated educational white paper, "Card Payments Roadmap in the United States: How Will EMV Impact the Future Payments Infrastructure?" with new information for 2012. The white paper aims to educate stakeholders -- issuers, merchants, acquirers/processors, and suppliers of hardware, software, and support services -- about the critical aspects of deploying an EMV solution in their unique business environments.
To reduce counterfeit fraud and help diminish the value of stolen cardholder data, nearly every country in the world is widely deploying EMV; now, the United States is following suit. Within the last year, the four major U.S. payment brands have announced harmonized key milestones for U.S. implementation of EMV. The white paper, an extensive update from the first version released in February 2011, contains all of the important details of the milestones and recommended implementation guidelines from American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa in one document for the first time.
Additional white paper topics include:
-- An overview of the EMV specifications and key implementation options for issuers, acquirers/processors, merchants and ATM operators.
-- A discussion of the relationship between U.S. contactless bank card transactions and EMV and the relationship between the Near Field Communications (NFC) specifications and EMV.
-- Actions stakeholders need to take to issue EMV cards, and to accept and process EMV transactions.
"Now that all of the major payment brands have announced their plans and milestones, we are anticipating fairly rapid deployment of EMV in the U.S., harmonized with contactless and NFC payments acceptance," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "Through this white paper containing all of the latest information and guidance, the Payments Council is providing guidance about the roadmap for EMV migration to make this important shift in the United States as seamless and successful as possible."
The white paper is in addition to a number of educational initiatives the Smart Card Alliance is providing to the industry on EMV chip migration. Last summer, the Alliance launched the website EMV Connection (http://www.emv-connection.com/), which provides up-to-date information on the status of EMV migration, along with tutorials and educational resources that will assist with migration.
The Alliance has also formed an independent, cross-industry organization, the EMV Migration Forum, that supports the alignment of the EMV implementation steps required for global payment networks, regional payment networks, issuers, acquirers/processors, merchants, and consumers to successfully move from magnetic stripe technology to secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States.
White Paper Contributors
Smart Card Alliance Payments Council participants involved in the development of this white paper included: Accenture LLP; American Express; Apriva; Bell Identification B.V.; Capgemini; Chase Card Services; Connexem Consulting; Discover Financial Services; First Data Corporation; FIS; Gemalto; Giesecke & Devrient; Heartland Payment Systems; Infineon Technologies; Ingenico, North America; INSIDE Secure; Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation; MasterCard Worldwide; Morpho; NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association; NagraID Security; NXP Semiconductors; Oberthur Technologies; Quadagno & Associates; Thales e-Security; Toni Merschen Consulting; TSYS; VeriFone Systems; Visa Inc.; Watchdata; Wells Fargo.
About the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council
The Smart Card Alliance Payments Council focuses on facilitating the adoption of chip-enabled payments and payment applications in the U.S. through education programs for consumers, merchants, issuers, acquirers/processors, government regulators, mobile telecommunications providers and payments service providers. The group is bringing together payments industry stakeholders, including payments industry leaders, merchants and suppliers, and is working on projects related to implementing EMV, contactless payments, NFC-enabled payments and applications, mobile payments, and chip-enabled e-commerce. The Council's primary goal is to inform and educate the market about the value of chip-enabled payments in improving the security of the payments infrastructure and in enhancing the value of payments and payment-related applications for industry stakeholders. Council participation is open to any Smart Card Alliance member who wishes to contribute to the Council projects.
About the Smart Card Alliance
The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.
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