By Mark Bergner, Worldpay
As October 2015 came and went, fraud liability not-so-silently shifted to U.S. business owners whose POS devices are not equipped to accept chip card payments. According to The Strawhecker Group, only 27% of businesses have implemented chip technology and surveys show a wide EMV chip awareness gap among consumers, which means there’s still work to be done.
While business owners take steps to EMV-enable their equipment, they can also take proactive steps to shape their customers’ views on chip cards and improve their in-store payments experience. Consider these three actions.
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Educate staff about plans for EMV implementation.
When businesses share what they know and their approaches to transaction security with their staff and customers, they can position themselves as trusted places to shop – and keep customers coming back. For example, business owners can explain how EMV certification requires collaboration across the business, POS vendor, payments gateway, payments processor and card networks. Many retail equipment providers have EMV training materials or YouTube has several pages outlining the process.
Train staff about card acceptance best practices.
To reduce the risk of counterfeit fraud while readying to accept chip card payments, businesses can take the time to train seasonal hires and retrain existing staff on card acceptance best practices, both EMV and beyond. Employers should demonstrate basic card acceptance procedures and provide a refresh on the security features employees should look for when dealing with customer’s payment cards, such as a magnetic strip, signature panel and Card Verification Value or CVV on the back of each card. With proper knowledge of card acceptance procedures, employees can continue to minimize fraud loss before, during and after the business implements EMV.
Anticipate common questions from consumers.
To display their commitment to transaction security and present a united front to consumers, businesses can anticipate common consumer questions and train staff to provide consistent answers. For example, customers might question how to use EMV cards, how they provide a more secure transaction, or if there are any additional fees associated with EMV cards. Businesses can offer training sessions to share the appropriate answers to these and other questions and provide a list of answers for employees to practice using. With an arsenal of informed answers, employees can reassure customers that payment security is their top priority.
For more information on closing the EMV awareness gap, visit Worldpay’s EMV Resource Center at www.emv.worldpay.com.
About the Author
Mark Bergner is Director of Product Strategy at Worldpay, a leading global payments technology and services company that offers services across the entire payments value chain and in any environment: in-store, online and via mobile devices.
Mark Bergner has more than 15 years of experience in payments and merchant services. His team is responsible for the company’s EMV strategy including evaluation and implementation of the new chip card standard.
Prior to Worldpay, Mark was the Head of Global Sales & Strategy, Gateway Division at American Express. While there, he helped launch the small business channel partner initiative and the American Express payment gateway. Prior to joining American Express, he spent three years at Merchant e-Solutions as VP, Channel Partnerships. In that role, he launched e-commerce initiatives focused on growing the strategic partnership program and served as the subject matter expert on platform, gateway and mobile trends.
Mark is regularly sought out for his subject matter expertise on EMV and card-not-present solutions. He has spent the past year educating peers and merchants alike on the new EMV standard, which he views as the biggest paradigm shift in the payments industry since the introduction of debit card payments more than thirty years ago.
Previous positions before Merchants e-Solutions were with Intrix Technology Inc. as VP, Business Development; VeriFone, Inc. as National Sales Executive; and Chase Merchant Services as VP, Strategic Partnerships.
