Publication Date: December 2016

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A fallback transaction normally occurs when a chip card, presented at a chip terminal, cannot be read due to a technical issue with the chip which results in the technology “falling back” to a magnetic stripe transaction. The payments industry is observing an extremely high rate of fallback transactions coming from newly deployed EMV enabled devices. The U.S. Payments Forum developed this guidance document for merchants, acquirer, ISVs and VARs who may have been experiencing high fallback rates. The guidance outlines potential causes of fallback transactions and actions that can be taken to address the problem. The guidance was updated in December 2016 to provide additional information on critical data values in the fallback compliance/chargeback process.

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