Princeton Junction, N.J., September 10, 2013 –The EMV Migration Forum’s Testing and Certification Working Committee has released a new resource outlining the current U.S. payment brand testing and certification requirements for acquirers, acquirer processors and direct connect merchants in the U.S. migration to EMV chip payments. The white paper, “Current U.S. Payment Brand Requirements for the Acquiring Community,” is available for free download at http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-testing-and-certification-acquiring-community-white-paper/.

The EMV Migration Forum, an independent cross-industry organization, was formed to address issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across the payments space in order to successfully introduce secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States. Within the Forum, the Testing and Certification Working Committee aims to educate industry stakeholders on the current certification requirements and processes, discuss the challenges with EMV certification and collaboratively define options for improvements recommended for U.S. EMV migration.

The white paper details the acquirer host and EMV chip terminal testing requirements for each U.S. payment brand – American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa – that are relevant to the U.S. as it moves to EMV chip cards.  The processes follow the EMV specification and each payment brand’s application specification, with an objective of ensuring interoperability between all host systems, payment devices and cardholder devices.  In addition to defining the current processes to test EMV chip transactions, the white paper also describes common examples and use cases and provides guidance for when retesting is required for EMV chip contact and contactless terminals.

“This document was created as an educational resource with the collaboration of the U.S. payment brands and other payment industry leaders in the EMV Migration Forum.  The result is a comprehensive document that will be a valuable asset in preparing the acquiring community for the U.S. move to EMV chip payments,” said Randy Vanderhoof, director, EMV Migration Forum.

The EMV Migration Forum plans to provide additional educational resources as they become available on issuer testing and certification and on changes to testing and certification processes as they evolve, including debit.

The white paper project was developed with input from: Acquirer Systems, American Express, Chase, Discover, ICC Solutions, MasterCard, TSYS, UL Transaction Security, Vantiv, VeriFone and Visa.

EMV Migration Forum membership has grown to more than 140 member organizations from the entire payments industry, including global payment brands, financial institutions, merchants, processors, acquirers, regional debit networks, industry suppliers and industry associations. For more information about the Forum and membership, visit http://www.emv-connection.com/us-payments-forum/.

About U.S. EMV Migration

Commonly used globally in place of magnetic stripe, EMV chip technology reduces card fraud in a face-to-face card-present environment; provides global interoperability; and enables safer and smarter transactions across cards and contactless channels. American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa have all announced their plans for supporting an EMV-based payments infrastructure in the U.S., with acquirer processor readiness mandates to support chip data in place for 2013, and liability shifts for managing fraud risk in a face-to-face environment set for 2015.

About the EMV Migration Forum

The EMV Migration Forum is a cross-industry body focused on supporting an alignment of the EMV implementation steps required for global and regional payment networks, issuers, processors, merchants, and consumers to ensure a successful introduction of more secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States. The focus of the Forum is to address topics that require some level of industry cooperation and/or coordination to migrate successfully to EMV technology in the United States.  For more information on the EMV Migration Forum, please visit http://www.emv-connection.com/us-payments-forum/.

Contact

Deb Montner
Megan Shamas
Montner & Associates Tech PR Agency
203-226-9290
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