Visa, First Data EMV Pact Could Boost Adoption (March 6, 2014)
First Data’s plan for its STAR Network to license Visa’s common Application Identifier (AID) could help get the ball rolling for EMV adoption as other debit networks continue to weigh their own options for routing debit transactions under the Durbin Amendment, observers say. First Data’s STAR Network, with more than 2 million retail and POS locations, last week unveiled plans to use PIN and no CVM functionality on the common AID to facilitate different types of debit transactions on its network, including PIN, PIN-less and signature cardholder verification methods. The AID will facilitate U.S. debit transactions from any debit network that licenses the Visa common AID solution and is enabled on a Visa card, according to the announcement.
In July 2013, Visa and MasterCard announced that the two networks would license their own EMV chip technologies to each other and other networks to further enable efficient routing of chip-based debit transactions over multiple, unaffiliated networks—a requirement set forth by the Durbin Amendment’s Regulation II. In March 2013, a consortium of 10 debit networks agreed to license a common application identifier (AID) from Discover Financial Services as the foundation solution for routing debit EMV transactions.
“This agreement is a significant step to accelerate EMV adoption by addressing Regulation II compliance for debit EMV transactions,” said Barry McCarthy, president, First Data Financial Services. “Not only does it accelerate the migration to EMV adoption, but also moves the industry a step closer to additional debit payment security.”
The major U.S. payment networks have set October 2015 as the date for shifting liability for card-based fraud to the party that is not prepared to process transactions with EMV chips. During a panel discussion this week at the All Payments Expo (APEX) in Las Vegas, several industry experts said issuers and merchants were making progress toward being EMV-ready by that date.
