As we approach the final leg of the race toward the looming EMV deadline, solutions that might sound like an answer to challenges associated with becoming EMV compliant begin to emerge. In this article I hope to address the problems ISVs are facing now that that October is around the corner and touch on a solution that may sound too good to be true.
Problems facing Independent Software Vendors or ISVs are still going unsolved as the October EMV deadlines quickly approach. ISVs pertain to any software developers or independent vendors making their own PoS software. Peter Osberg of Integrated Strategy and Product at EVO Payments International touched on the relationship between ISVs and EMV mandates earlier this week in an interview with Pymnts.com. Osberg spoke about the remaining problems with EMV software integration.
According to Osberg, ISVs are understanding the importance of creating a more secure payment environment nationwide for merchants and their patrons which include fluid point of sale applications. ISVs are quickly picking up on the often clouded requirements that the EMV system of processing requires while finding that most processors don’t even have the platform to achieve these goals.
Once these goals are achieved, there could be some added benefits for software companies. Software integration companies such as EVO Payments International are finding hidden benefits of EMV for merchants besides avoiding a liability shift in October. The ability to standardize integration and payment capabilities on a global basis, will be extremely valuable for their company when put on a global scale. Because of a strong established base of EMV use in Europe for many years, America is provided with a respectable model of the technology necessary to succeed from a PoS perspective. A key benefit often overlooked by merchants is the establishment of a global standard for payment processing. With a consistent standard in place it will be possible for domestic ISVs to support integrated strategy worldwide. Osberg calls it “a one-solution-fits-all for our markets.”
However, even with a European model in place, industries such as the Restaurant industry will undergo such a large change in their workflow that education and support to ISVs and the merchants using their programs will be highly necessary. It’s been found that merchants large and small that are running the EMV system struggle to maintain efficiency and knowledge of the use of the readers. This, in turn causes delays in the checkout process creating a negative outlook towards EMV. It’s going to take a big change in attitude from the merchant, customer, and software companies to get integration on track.
It’s not just the merchants that aren’t ready. Processors and Acquirers (banks) have admitted that they aren’t ready for a nationwide switch. The issue doesn’t necessarily rely in with the processors or software itself, but the 3 levels of certification necessary to achieve a complete system of processing. This processing is going to take some time and money from all sides however, level 3 certification is slowly becoming easier with the help of a more streamlined approach to product strategy and a more cohesive relation between third party partners and ISVs.
It’s not just the EMV chip technology itself that will offer a heightened level of security. Merchants will hopefully be equipped with a multilayered security solution that is designed to keep the cardholder data secure. Encryption and tokenization will be equally as crucial to a completely new way of credit card security.
With EMVs ability to essentially standardize global payment processing while creating a monumental market for EMV compliant payment systems, EMV is causing a fire storm in the credit card payment industry. ISVs will clearly be working feverishly up until October to produce the technology capable of excepting the complex change in the merchant, bank, and software environment.
