By Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director, Smart Card Alliance

It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of the EMV Migration Forum (the Forum), a new, independent, cross-industry organization created to support the alignment of the EMV implementation steps required to successfully move from magnetic strip technology to secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States. Many of us have seen, in other markets around the world, that cooperation and alignment among global payment networks, regional payment networks, issuers, processors, merchants, and consumers is vital for a timely, efficient and effective transition. We’ve heard from payment industry stakeholders who have long called for a neutral forum to focus on the coordination and cooperation necessary to ensure for an effective transition to EMV contact and contactless technology. Our members, other associations, and trade groups have consistently been supportive and eager for us to establish an EMV-focused organization for this vital migration.

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By Oliver Manahan, Vice President of Emerging Payments, MasterCard Worldwide, and Chair, Smart Card Alliance Payments Council

In the lifecycle of any technology, there comes a time when the next best thing is usually looming on the horizon, and embracing it is the only smart step to take.  We have reached that point in the U.S., as we look toward a migration to EMV.

The timing is right for this transition.  Consumers are looking for more from their payment devices, including a consistent experience when traveling in the U.S. and abroad.  In an increasingly global and interconnected economy, ensuring worldwide operability is necessary.  With 1.5 billion chip devices globally, EMV is already a proven, scalable technology.

The migration to EMV is a transformational shift that will alter the payments ecosystem the way the iPod transformed the way we listen to music.  EMV-based payments will bring value not just to one party, but to all stakeholders – merchants, acquirers, issuers and consumers.

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The United States has moved to EMV chip payments, with consumers now using chip cards to pay at chip-enabled merchant locations nationwide. 

EMV migration has been proceeding along the milestones set by the payment networks.  Visa took the lead in establishing their EMV roadmap with their announcement on August 9, 2011.  MasterCard, Discover and American Express followed suit with announcements on January 30, 2012, March 15, 2012, and June 29, 2012, respectively.  The payment network milestones include retailer incentives, processing infrastructure acceptance requirements and fraud liability shifts.  Payment networks have aligned their milestones to streamline payments industry migration to EMV.

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By Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director, Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance has created the EMV Connection website as a service to the payments industry. The site provides up-to-date information on the status of EMV migration, along with tutorials and educational resources that will assist with gaining a better understanding of the changes that this migration from magnetic stripe cards to cards and devices that also include EMV chip technology will bring. EMV technology provides added security and new payments options and features for merchants and consumers.

Many of you are familiar with the Smart Card Alliance organization and know about the work that the organization does to provide valuable educational resources — white papers, workshops, conferences, web seminars, slide shows, and online audio and video recordings by industry experts.  As an organization that serves the needs of many different markets who have adopted smart card technology, our goal for establishing the EMV Connection website was to gather all of the smart card-related information that was relevant to the payments industry, give it a unique look and feel and provide an easy-to-use resource that can be refreshed and updated with new information on a regular basis.

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