Paying with a credit card needs to be easy, but it also needs to be safe. Credit card fraud isn’t going away anytime soon, however EMV is a first step to preventing it. While the implementation of EMV chip-enabled cards is making a positive impact in the battle against credit card fraud, unless you have fully made the switch, your business may still be at risk. Fraudsters are actively seeking out non-EMV enabled businesses, racking up charges that will eventually be charged back to your business (e.g. chargebacks). Until recently, the issuing bank was taking the loss. Today, businesses are being held liable if not migrated to EMV.
Chip Cards are Still Vulnerable to Hacking
Deploying EMV may well decrease card-present fraud, as it has in the rest of the world. But according to Forbes, the EMV chips on U.S. cards are inconveniencing fraudsters enough that they’re shifting their focus to online and other areas. Some reports indicate that, much like what occurred in Europe after EMV was implemented, the fraud is shifting. And U.S. banks are also expected to see ATM fraud increase as the migration to EMV technology continues. There are a few ways fraudsters approach ATM-related hacking. For example:
- Card Skimming: Card and PIN details are captured at an ATM and used to produce counterfeit cards for fraudulent cash withdrawals.
- Card Trapping: The card is physically captured at an ATM, and the PIN is compromised. Later, fraudsters use the card to make fraudulent cash withdrawals now having access to the PIN.
- Cash Trapping: Fraudsters attach a device to an ATM that will trap any cash that the ATM tries to dispense. While the customer retains the card, fraudsters later return to the ATM and retrieve the cash trapped inside the ATM.
All credit card payment options have some risk associated. Every transaction launches a complex, automated, and integrated process involving not just merchants but also banks, acquirers, payment processors and more. A host of technology innovations—new advances such as those found with smartphones and digital wallets, shifts in buying habits. In addition, consumer demand for more businesses to accept card payments has created a fierce battle within the industry. No longer a set of isolated processes, today’s entire payments ecosystem is just a component of the broader commercial landscape—playing an integral role in fraud management and data privacy as part of a comprehensive IT security framework that must span the Internet, mobile devices, social networks and cloud services. While EMV is a piece of the security puzzle, don’t expect it to stop all fraud.