EMV

EMV

As technologies continue to evolve, features such as contactless and touchless payments are becoming more popular – especially with more safety-conscious customers seeking to minimise risk or exposure since the COVID-19 pandemic.

EMV technology creates many security advantages that protect both organisations and their users. Since EMV-equipped cards collect and store cardholder information on a smart chip, it becomes increasingly more difficult for fraudsters to manipulate or abuse that data by creating replicas. Also, turning meaningful cardholder data into a random string of characters compatible with the EMV process allows organisations to store a token rather than the actual cardholder data – rendering it useless should unauthorised parties gain access. Lastly, encryption of cardholder information from where the card is being tapped or inserted, right up to the payment gateway, ensures that all information is unreadable in case of exposure.

Retailers or organisations considering a switch to EMV can expect to realise greater customer loyalty and incremental revenue by introducing it as a digital payment option.