Apple Pay recently brought Near Field Communication (NFC) to the general public’s attention. The new EMV initiative has been a topic of the electronic payments industry for a while now.
But what do all the acronyms mean, and what do you REALLY need to know?
EMV, NFC, WTF?!
Here’s what you need to know.
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, and is an initiative that is globally accepted – by everyone but the United States. In 2015, the U.S. will formally adopt EMV technology, which is a chip embedded card used by the consumer, and a chip enabled point of sale terminalThe device by which a transaction is transmitted to the acquiring bank. used by the merchantA business that accepts credit cards for goods or services.. This technology allows for more secure authentication of credit and debit card transactions.
Upgrading your point of sale terminals to comply with this new credit card security standard is mandatory to avoid liability. Those who do not use EMV capable terminals in 2015 will be vulnerable to security breaches and fines from the Cards Brands, and the merchantA business that accepts credit cards for goods or services. will be liable for all risk.
NFC stands for Near Field Communication, and is a wireless technology that allows contactless transactions, data exchange, and other wireless communications. NFC is the technology that allows an iPhone 6 to make electronic payments.
Apple Pay implements NFC and tokenization to protect consumers’ information and make contactless electronic payments simple and easy.
So now that you know the basics, what’s next?!
EMV and NFC are taking over. EMV is mandatory in order to avoid liability, and NFC and Apple Pay are very quickly becoming the global trend that is definitely here to stay.
The good news is, as another way that National Merchants Association Works For You®, throughout the month of December, we will upgrade your point of sale equipment to EMV and Apple Pay ready terminals.
EMV and NFC adoption is seamlessly easy.
It’s that simple!
Contact a National Merchants Association expert to get started on your FREE equipment upgrade.
866.509.7199