Understanding EMV, A gentle and simple approach for developers/software engineers. (Introduction)
While coming up as a software developer I never knew what EMV was. I kept wondering how card payment was possible, could not tell between EMV and Non-Emv cards. Grace shined on me and I got employment to a payment company and this opened me up to EMV and the way the technology works.
Interacting with software developers and engineers while the external businesses are trying to integrate into the system, I realized a lot of them do not understand the way EMV works thereby causing delay in the time of delivery of these projects and also a bad delivery of these products and many of them do not always meet the standard of payment schemes and EMV generally.
In this Series of articles, we will discuss what EMV is and try to understand how it works.
WHAT IS EMV (INTRODUCTION)
The world of payments has undergone a lot of changes over the years, and one of the most significant developments is the introduction of EMV technology. EMV is an acronym for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa, the three companies that developed the standard in the 1990s. EMV is a global standard for credit and debit card payments that uses a microprocessor chip to store and protect cardholder data.
Before EMV, most card transactions relied on the magnetic stripe on the back of the card. However, magnetic stripe cards are vulnerable to fraud, as the information stored on the stripe can be easily copied and used to make fraudulent transactions. EMV technology provides a more secure way to process card payments, as the microprocessor chip generates a unique code for each transaction, making it more difficult for fraudsters to steal and use cardholder data.
EMV technology has been widely adopted in many countries around the world, including Europe, Canada, and Australia. In the United States, however, the adoption of EMV has been slower. This is because the cost of upgrading payment terminals and issuing new EMV-enabled cards is significant, and many merchants and card issuers have been hesitant to make the switch.
Despite the slow adoption in the U.S., EMV technology offers many benefits to both consumers and merchants. For consumers, EMV provides increased protection against fraud and unauthorized transactions. For merchants, the technology can help reduce their liability for fraudulent transactions, as liability shifts from the issuer to the merchant if the merchant does not use an EMV-enabled terminal.
To use an EMV card, consumers insert the card into an EMV-enabled terminal and leave it there for the duration of the transaction. The terminal reads the information stored on the chip, and the consumer may be prompted to enter a PIN or sign to authorize the transaction.
In conclusion, EMV technology is an important development in the world of payments, providing increased security and protection for both consumers and merchants. While adoption has been slow in some parts of the world, including the U.S., the benefits of the technology make it a worthwhile investment for the future of payment processing.
The next thing we will talk about are the terminologies and technologies surrounding EMV….
Looking for to the next article….
