How to Lead, Educate, and Communicate on EMV

The race towards implementation of EMV — the chip-based smartcard technology that’s replacing traditional magnetic-stripe cards — is gathering speed.

As EMV mandates approach key milestones, banks will begin to feel pressure from merchant customers to channel information and answer tough questions about making the transition. Moving to chip-enabled cards means change and increased functional complexity right down the line of the transaction process — from terminal providers, acquirers, and the card network to issuers, card producers, and the merchants themselves.

In a climate of uncertainty, merchants are going to come knocking at your door. Are you ready to answer their questions and reassure them? Do you have an effective communication strategy both for them and your own employees?

Merchants will want to know about the basics: the timetable, the hardware and software requirements, your level of support, and how to implement the transition smoothly for themselves and their customers. They’ll need to know what the data security benefits are and how EMV will integrate with existing marketing and stored value programs.

The right partner for a strong communications strategy

Fortunately, with the right payment provider partner, banks can offer the detailed level of support and information that merchants need without stretching internal resources.

Veracity provides that expertise. Our own dedicated conversion management team is ready and able to lead, educate, and communicate.

• Our secure and fully compliant proprietary payment infrastructure gives us the right tools for EMV adoption and support.
• With our technology solutions for merchants, we offer total versatility for handling all manner of swipe transactions, all POS equipment, and full integration with backend systems.
• We have the hardware and software to enable smooth implementation of EMV while helping to reinforce PCI-DSS compliance.

On this foundation, we work with you to develop an information gathering and communications strategy for your merchant customers.

Creating your strategy is a multi-step process, so we are available for discussions about requirements, assessments, and timetabling, as well as regular review meetings. We’ll also identify the most effective means of communication from a range of tools including letters, flyers, direct mail, newsletters, welcome kits, and references guides. We also offer online resources such as webinars, micro sites and, of course, the myVeracity merchant portal.

Our experience tells us that the key to ultimate EMV success is to ensure partnership with the right processor, issuing platform, and point-of-sale software providers, and to have a thorough understanding of their capabilities and priorities.

With Veracity as your partner, you’ll get a head start — and so will your customers.

Best regards,

Brenda L. Stein
Senior Vice President, General Manager