#Emv card deadline upgrade
Next, station owners can look into EMV upgrade options that have affordable monthly fees and financing to help break down the costs over time. Better pricing may be available that can help save your business money. Firstly, you could look into switching your current credit card processing provider by looking at an option or putting out an RFP, request for proposal. Merchants do have the ability to save in other areas of their EMV upgrade process as well, which can help reduce their overall expenses. Business downtime might also be required in order to successfully upgrade the pumps, so a retrofit package that is clean and quick is obviously the best solution. The amount all depends on the makeup and number of existing pumps and equipment at each station. This amounts to $17,315 per site – a cost that can be difficult to bear. Their findings show that in the case of a retailer operating 12 fuel locations in all risk areas, the average cumulative liability shift associated with EMV is estimated to be $207,83 total. To help calculate costs, Mercator Advisory Group – an advisor to the global payments industry – performed an analysis independently to help estimate costs. There are a few options to do so, and some have restrictions.
Others can upgrade their existing pumps and equipment. Stations with equipment that is too old will need to replace entire pumps, which can be very costly. Each gas station has to be looked at individually to determine the existing equipment makeup and configuration. The monetary risks of fraud liability far eclipse the costs of upgrading equipment, but cash flow for the necessary upgrades remains a major sticking point. These charges often become the liability of the gas station owner and can severely compromise their business. Upgrading For EMV Compliance Doesn’t Have To Be ExpensiveĪccording to Conexxus, fraudulent charges cost card issuers an estimated $400 million per year, and on average, $201,000 per store per year. Tens of thousands of gas stations nationwide are scrambling to develop the right plan for their station and their budget. Advance reservation is required to beat the rush that will unfold. Petroleum equipment and service companies are seeing a lack of technicians, overbooking and lack of equipment. Multiple card-skimming devices per week are seized by the United States Secret Service, with each storing stolen information from cards.Īs the April 2021 deadline gets closer, it is becoming more and more difficult for gas stations to schedule these important EMV upgrades. That behavior is projected to increase, especially since the onset of the pandemic this year and the challenges it presents with in-person retail. Recently, data has shown that nearly 90% of adults in the United States use a private vehicle daily, with many of them paying at the pump versus inside the convenience store. The likelihood increases when the gas station isn’t monitored by cameras, gas attendants or other customers.
Card skimming, the most common fraud at the pump, can be easily done today because of a reliance on reading the magnet stripe data on the card. The looming gas pump EMV requirement protects consumers’ sensitive payment information.Īccording to Conexxus, a nonprofit that represents convenience stores, fraudulent payment transactions, where the perpetrator uses a stolen or cloned card for payment, is currently increasing 23% year over year and may exceed $450 million annually by the end of 2020. EMV reads the embedded smart chip, rather than mag stripe, to improve security and provide a safer payment environment for their customers. Visa estimated that transition resulted in a 76% drop in fraud during September 2015 and December 2018.ĮMV, which stands for Europay, Mastercard, Visa, the first three major card networks to adopt the technology, is now recognized globally as a security standard when it comes to accepting debit and credit card transactions. This deadline is a continuation of EMV technology expanding into retail in 2015, which helped retailers immediately see a reduction in fraud. If gas stations do not upgrade and meet the new EMV at the pump standard, their stations will continue to see an increased level of skimming, hacking and other fraudulent activity associated with non-EMV transactions. If not in compliance, the gas station owners themselves will assume expensive liabilities for payment card fraud at their stations. The deadline for gas stations in the United States to upgrade their pumps to accept EMV was recently extended to April 2021, allowing more time to comply with the new EMV standard to pay at the pump.