One of the advances in credit card payment processing is the switchover from the traditional credit or debit card in favor of Euro pay, MasterCard and Visa or simply (EMV Credit Cards). This form of card payment was invented as a way of curbing the rising cases of fraud, data breaches, skimming, identity theft, counterfeit cards, account infringement and much more. However, although established several years ago and adopted as the global standard, many small business merchant services are yet to embrace the new and better credit card processing system.

Statistics indicate that large retailers such as Costco, Target and Wal-Mart have already incorporated  EMV with Point of Sale system but many small retailers are still lagging behind. As of October 2016, 37% (1.7 million merchants) had adopted Visa while retailers using MasterCard EMV POS merchant payment processing was approximately 2.3 million.

Advantages of EMV Credit Cards over the Traditional Magstripe Card

Before the innovation of EMV, credit cards relied on a magnetic stripe (Magstripe) that stored all the vital information including password, account balances, transaction codes and much more. A credit card payment processor simply swiped the card by moving it slowly inside a specialized slot. EMV credit cards use an embedded metallic square chip to store the necessary information and instead of swiping the card, payment processing companies simply insert or dip it inside the POS terminal and wait for a connection to be established.

Contact-less reading is also another option of capturing the details where the cards are lightly tapped on a terminal reader or scanner. According to many merchant account providers, contactless reading or tapping is seen as a more user-friendly option. In contrast top Magstripe that retained the same code and allowing duplication of information and cards, chipped cards keep changing the codes making it difficult to replicate or steal information.

According to many EMV software developers and payment gateway providers, a hacker who manages to steal data from a particular POS won’t be able to reuse the information at another point. The system would simply deny the card. Contact our local merchant account companies today to speak to a merchant services representative for advise on how to get the best merchant account rates for business…or info on EMV Credit Cards.