TAMPA, Fla. (November 19, 2012) – The migration to EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip cards in the U.S. is underway. While EMV is a global standard with the U.S. being the last major card market to adopt, there are still many unknowns in the U.S. market surrounding the transition. Careful planning, thorough analysis, and an overall understanding of chip card technology is critical for a credit union’s successful adoption of EMV enabled cards.

 “EMV: Background and Implications for Credit Unions”, co-authored by Card Services for Credit Unions® and First Annapolis Consulting, provides credit unions guidance on how to do just that. The white paper outlines the EMV roadmap including timelines and key dates such as the fraud liability shift set for October 1, 2015. The paper also reviews implications for issuers and other stakeholders and analyzes considerations around various card issuance strategies.

“Proper planning of the optimal time and method to review cards is perhaps the most important consideration for credit unions as they approach their EMV decision-making process. Credit unions have several options for EMV conversion dependent upon their individual fraud characteristics, membership and products, status of EMV enabled terminal deployment as well as financial and human resources that can be committed to an EMV implementation,” said Robert Hackney, president of Card Services for Credit Unions®.

The white paper also emphasizes that while EMV chip card will significantly reduce counterfeit fraud, which currently accounts for an estimated 40% of total payment card fraud, it will not solve for card-not-present fraud. 

“There’s no doubt converting an entire market of cards and terminals, in addition to ensuring the necessary back-office, processing and member service changes are in place, is a significant undertaking. In order for EMV to be effective, all stakeholders -- issuers and their cards, merchants and their terminals, processors and their authorization systems – will need to be ready,” added Hackney. 
 
To help plan for a successful EMV implementation, including when and how to convert payment product portfolios, credit unions can download Card Services for Credit Unions®’s white paper at www.cscu.net/emv.

About Card Services for Credit Unions®
Card Services for Credit Unions® is the credit union industry’s advocate, partner and leader in total payment solutions. Created by and for credit unions, we are driven by the same principles that guide the industry. We work exclusively with credit unions to provide a customized, holistic offering that maximizes value for both credit unions and their members. Card Services for Credit Unions®’s services and offerings are focused on driving the growth and success of our nearly 3,000 member credit unions.

###