The Benefits of EMV Cards

Written by

James Davis

Written by James Davis

Senior Technical Writer at United Thinkers

Author of the Paylosophy blog, a veteran writer, and a stock analyst with extensive knowledge and experience in the financial services industry that allows me to cover the latest payment industry news, developments, and insights. Read more

Reviewed by

Kathrine Pensatori

Reviewed by Kathrine Pensatori

Product Specialist at United Thinkers

Product specialist with more than 10 years of experience in the Payment Processing Industry. I help payment facilitators and PSPs solve their various payment processing issues. Read more

Is the choice of EMV standard a conscious choice? This is the question many merchants might ask in view of the approaching deadline for mandatory support of EMV cards (October 2015). Why should a business switch to EMV cards and terminals, if EMV technology does not guarantee ultimate protection against credit card fraud?

Originally, EMV technology was introduced to protect retail businesses. Even decades ago EMV cards (also called chip cards) were much harder to forge than ordinary swipe cards. At that time the problem of credit card fraud was not as serious as it is today, but even then EMV cards already had several advantages over swipe cards.

The main benefits of EMV over ordinary swipe cards

Now the advantage of EMV technology in the ordinary swipers’ world is even greater. The main benefits of EMV cards include: larger capacity, in-built interactive mini-application on a chip, addition of point-to-point encryption, and reduction of data flow.

In view of these advantages, and popularity of EMV technology, it is only natural, that EMV standard, which prevails in most European countries, should be supported by merchants in the US.

More information on the benefits of EMV cards can be found in the respective article on Paylosophy.com “The Benefits of EMV Cards“.