When it comes to EMV credit cards, users usually have a variety of questions to ask. Are they difficult to use? Are they safe? What makes them different? If any of these matters are of interest to you, you’ve come to the right place. You can check out our detailed EMV Credit Card Processing FAQ right below.
Are EMV cards secure?
EMV cards are more secure than magnetic stripe cards. The magnetic stripe holds data that has a unique code that invokes payment. However, this code cannot be changeable, and the data from a magstripe can be easily stolen. This way, fraud can replicate the payment information repeatedly and successfully draw funds from an account.
EMV cards possess a chip that creates a unique code for that particular card with every transaction. An already used code cannot be reused. So, if a fraud manages to steal data from a payment done via an EMV card, their attempt of recreating the payment will be denied. In other words, every EMV payment is unique, and old payment data can’t pass, unlike with magstripe cards.
Additional security measure is the four-digit PIN required in some countries for either all payments or larger payments. A consumer dials the PIN at the time of payment.
How do you use EMV cards?
EMV cards differ from traditional magstripe cards. Instead of doing a good old swipe, EMVs are dipped or inserted into the payment device. If the settings are present, the device then asks for a PIN which you dial on a PIN pad.
Recent changes have been introduced with EMV payment methods. In this case, all you have to do is bring your card close enough to the device, and the device will read the data from the card. Again, depending on the security settings, a PIN may be demanded or not. Usually, payments above a specific limit demand a PIN insertion.
What is an EMV card?
An EMV card is a payment card, usually a debit card (but it can also be a credit card) with a chip instead of a magnetic stripe. Some cards have both the stripe and a chip. The convenience of this chip over a magnetic card is that it keeps the payments more secure and card theft less likely. Other names for EMV cards are:
- Chip Card
- Smart Card
- Chip Enabled Smart Card
- Chip-and-Choice Card (it requires a PIN or a signature)
Do I have to enter my PIN when I use an EMV card?
With EMV cards, you can verify the purchase by entering the PIN or signing the receipt. This is done and chosen when the card is issued. The rest depends on the devices used in the market. Currently in the US, not many stores demand a PIN. It would be best if you always had your PIN readily available because transmission to EMV cards in the US are slow but progressive. We expect more and more stores and terminals to be compatible with full EMV authentication.
What’s up with EMV cards? What’s wrong with magnetic swipe cards?
Countries worldwide have been transferring to EMV cards and preferring them over magstripe cards because of higher security and a smaller chance of credit and debit card fraud. This resulted in lessening the amount of financial and identity fraud in these countries.
In recent years, frauds of this type in the US have doubled. Whether it’s because of wider use of payment cards overall or because Magstripe frauds have been drawn to countries where magstripe are still common, it is a significant security issue. It is expected that the US will see EMV cards being introduced slowly to improve payment card security.
Can EMV transactions be done offline?
As a matter of fact, yes. EMV cards need a connection to work correctly. When it comes to offline EMV transactions, the terminal and the card communicate via the issuer-defined risk parameters. These are placed on the card itself to determine whether the transaction can be authorized.
How long will it take to migrate to EMV cards?
In 2017, 40-50% of transactions in the US had been on a chip-to-chip basis (which means EMV). Reports show that about 60% of ATMs are enabled to receive EMV cards, and about 50% of merchants can process EMV payments.
You can check on the EMV Connection website for more information.
How are EMV cards processed?
The payment can be processed in places that have approved EMV equipment and payment processing procedures. The customer ‘dips’ (inserts) an EMV card to the terminal. Initial communication between the device and the chip is initialized.
The device displays instructions for the customer to authenticate the transaction. Depending on the issuer, this can either be done by adding your signature or entering a PIN. Signatures are still common, but they are slowly replaced with PINs because of PINs’ higher security nature.
After the consumer has successfully authenticated the transaction, the communication with the bank terminal, or online processing, begins. The bank or the card issuer can implement additional authentication and fraud filters before sending codes for approval/denial to the store’s EMV terminal.
Are EMV cards fraud-proof?
Unfortunately, there is not a single payment card method on the market that is entirely fraud-proof. Even though there are different levels of high-security measures implemented on EMV cards (dynamic authentication data, pins, etc.), there are still ways that card frauds can steal your valuable card data and gain access to your account.
The most direct way to commit an EMV card fraud for the perpetrator is to possess the card (steal it or find it) and to guess the PIN correctly or mimic the signature depending on the validation method.
Recently, NFC technology has been added to make payments faster and more convenient. Some issuers have lifted PIN bans for amounts less than a certain threshold. If someone finds this card that you have lost, they can make small purchases over and over until nothing is left on your bank account.
Will my EMV card work everywhere?
Yes, currently, we are at the point where most card issuers produce cards with both EMV and Magnetic Stripe. Once the vast majority of terminals can accept EMV cards, the magnetic stripe will gradually be excluded from cards due to security issues.
