EMV Preparation Continues with PULSE Deal, New EMV Industry Services (May 15, 2014)
More pieces of the U.S. EMV quilt were stitched together this week, as Discover Financial Services’ PULSE network announced an agreement to use MasterCard’s common debit solution for processing EMV debit transactions. PULSE reached a similar agreement with Visa in March. Fiserv and CPI Card Group also made separate announcements about new EMV services for card issuers, as momentum builds around the nation’s shift to the EMV chip standard in the run-up to the payment networks’ October 2015 liability shift deadline.
PULSE’s deal with MasterCard is the latest in a series of individual agreements U.S. debit networks are working out with the payment networks to ensure EMV debit transactions will meet regulatory requirements of the Durbin Amendment under the Dodd-Frank Act. Several of the nation’s 18 debit networks already have announced similar agreements with Visa and MasterCard, with more expected. The law requires each debit network to offer merchants a choice of at least two unaffiliated networks for processing debit transactions, and EMV’s technical intricacies call for a common application identifier, which each network has supplied.
Fiserv added to the EMV news, announcing on May 13 a comprehensive EMV solution for issuing chip-enabled credit and debit cards, including strategic guidance to institutions, EMV-specific card materials, EMV transaction processing and EMV education resources for consumers and financial institutions. “Fraud liability shifts are approaching quickly and financial institutions need to begin their migration now,” David Keenan, Fiserv’s general manager, said in a press release.
CPI Card Group on the same day announced the opening of a new card-manufacturing facility in Littleton, Colo., its second hub for commercial card production, citing rising demand for EMV services. The 50,000-square-foot facility will increase CPI’s EMV card-manufacturing capacity by 400 percent, CPI said.
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