CSP Daily News provides a reminder that there is still much work to be done to fully complete the EMV migration in the U.S. Fuel pumps are one payment point of service that has barely begun to upgrade to EMV. As with other merchants, fuel marketers are weighing the risk-reward balance to determine if they will make the investment to upgrade fuel pumps by the liability shift date:
Though the deadline for EMV upgrades at gas pumps is still two years away, many fuel marketers and convenience-store owners across the United States are already analyzing whether the benefits of upgrading their fuel-dispensing equipment to meet this standard is worth the cost to do so.
The unique argument made in this article is that the equation to determine if upgrades to EMV are cost effective should include not just the expense to upgrade vs. the potential increase in fraudulent transactions, but also the loss of customers who seek out establishments with better security, should the merchant choose not to migrate their fuel pumps.
“In global markets that have adopted EMV payment, Gilbarco has seen consumers seek out EMV-enabled dispensers and shift their fueling to locations that they believe to be more secure,” Parker Burke, director of payment and marketing applications at Gilbarco Veeder-Root. “Consumer EMV awareness and adoption will accelerate as broad retail converts through the balance of 2015, and consumers will start seeking out convenience stores that offer EMV security.”
Provided the general lack of knowledge concerning EMV by U.S. consumers and merchants alike, the idea that consumers would seek out those merchants with EMV capabilities for purposes of a more secure transaction will need to be supported by some compelling marketing. Given the current confusion in the marketplace, there is a sizable gap in education to get consumers who are currently not using EMV to arrive at the point where they will look for opportunities to use their “chipped” cards.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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