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EMV at the ATM:What you need to know [reflecting Back number]

By Robin Arnfield | Contributing writer, ATM Marketplace


As every U.S. ATM operator should know by now, the deadlines for migrating to EMV are fast approaching. Yet, according to an ATMatom blog, many of the small merchants in the U.S. are delaying migrating their mag-stripe ATMs to EMV. This white paper explains what ATM deployers need to do to ensure that their ATMs are EMV-compliant and that EMV cardholders enjoy a good customer experience at their ATMs.


Deadlines MasterCard and Visa have respectively set October 21, 2016 and October 2017 as the deadlines after which counterfeit card fraud liability will shift to U.S. ATM acquirers who don’t accept MasterCard- and Visa-branded EMV cards at their ATMs. Once these deadlines have passed, if an EMV card is used fraudulently at an ATM that doesn’t support EMV, the acquirer will be liable for the issuer’s fraud losses and will pass these chargebacks to the ATM owner.

However, if an ATM is EMV-compliant, its owner won’t be liable for any fraud involving an EMV card that takes place at the terminal. Non-EMV-compliant ATM deployers risk being shut off from their acquirer’s network if they don’t migrate to EMV. Following Canada’s migration to EMV in 2012, non-EMV-compliant ATMs were disconnected from Canada’s Interac ATM/debit network. “Experience in other countries has proved that non-EMV compliant ATMs will face an increasingly aggressive threat of counterfeit transactions from card fraud rings once the liability shift is implemented,” an ATMatom blog on the EMV ATM liability shift notes. “Fraudulent magnetic-stripe ATM transactions will likely occur, increasing chargeback liability to the ATM owner.” Supply chain issues ISOs and IADs who delay their EMV migration may find that their ATM vendor is facing supply chain issues. EMV migration kits could be in short supply and on back order due to ATM deployers who are trying to meet the deadline at the last minute. Long Beach, Mississippi-based ATM manufacturer Triton Systems advises ISOs and IADs to take action now to beat compliance deadlines by ordering their EMV upgrade kits now. The good news for Triton’s clients is that its lead times for EMV upgrade kits are very low indeed and that the company can meet their needs very quickly.

Take action now to beat EMV compliance deadlines by ordering your EMV upgrade kits now. Don’t risk fines by playing the waiting game.

What ATM deployers need to do The ATM Marketplace report “EMV at the ATM: The race to compliance” said that, to be EMV-compliant, ATMs must contain EMVCo-approved EMV card readers as well as PCIcompliant encrypting PIN pads. EMVCo defines the global standards for EMV. U.S. ATM deployers can install motorized EMV card readers or EMV dip card readers. With EMV motorized readers, there is no behavioural change for EMV cardholders compared to mag-stripe cards. With EMV dip card readers, the change for cardholders is that the EMV card has to stay in place until the chip is read, whereas, with mag-stripe, all the cardholder does is swipe their card quickly.

An EMVCo-approved EMV software kernel must be added to the ATM application software provided by the ATM vendor. The software kernel, which must be certified by EMVCo, interfaces with the EMV card reader and performs tasks such as authorizing users and communicating their transaction requests to issuers. Depending on the ATM’s age, its processor and memory may need to be upgraded to support the EMV kernel. EMV at the ATM: The race to compliance, which can be downloaded free of charge from ATM Marketplace, provides detailed information on EMV.

Options According to an ATMatom blog by Darrell Cornell, Triton’s president and CEO, merchants and ISOs have several options to become EMV-compliant. EMV upgrade kit This is the cheapest option for merchants and ISOs. Depending on the manufacturer, even 15- to 20-year-old ATMs are still supported and can be upgraded easily to EMV with the purchase of an upgrade kit for around $500, Cornell wrote. Triton offers U.S. EMV upgrade kits that include EMV chip card readers and EMV-compliant software for ISOs and IAD’s Triton ATM models including the RL1600, RL2000, Traverse, RL5000, ARGO, and all the way back to the 9600 model. Triton says that its lead times for EMV upgrade kits are very low indeed and that it can deliver the kits very quickly to customers. Its EMV upgrade kits are the same price for all its ATM models, as they are backward-engineered through to the 9600. Triton clients can obtain guidance on how to install software and EMV upgrade kits on Triton’s YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC88JYr4OjT6SCwX4WeA_Eg Triton has a lot of expertise in EMV migration, having already worked with ISOs/IADs in the U.K., Canada, Australia and Mexico. It helps facilitate global interoperability and compatibility of chip-based payment cards and ATMs. Trade-in Depending on the site and the merchant, a new ATM might be the best solution. However, the high cost of a new ATM has so far been a barrier to widespread merchant upgrade.

Trading in older, non-EMV hardware to the manufacturer for a new EMV-compliant ATM has two advantages, according to Cornell. Firstly, the net cost of the new ATM is drastically reduced by credit given on the trade. Secondly, the older ATM stays out of the landfill, which helps safeguard the environment, the ATM Marketplace white paper “Why you should consider refurbishing old ATMs” said. Refurb Refurbished, EMV-ready ATMs are an increasingly popular option, driven by merchants who want a fresh machine without the new-ATM sticker shock, Cornell wrote. Depending on configurations, a refurbished ATM, partially offset by the trade-in of a used ATM, can reduce a merchant’s cost to nearly that of an upgrade kit.


Staff and customer education ATM deployers need to: • Train their staff to handle EMV-specific errors and problems at their ATMs. • Educate customers on how to use EMV cards at their ATMs, for example by providing messaging on and around the ATM. Consumers need to be told to hold their EMV cards in an ATM’s EMV-based dip card reader long enough for the reader to access the chip, rather than just swiping them quickly and removing them.


Customer experience Triton has developed software for its ATMs’ EMV dip card readers that is designed to ensure a better customer experience for EMV cardholders. “In an EMV-enabled ATM, the reader detects whether there is an EMV chip or only a magstripe on the card,” said Belinda Hillery, Triton’s technical services manager. “If there is no EMV chip or the chip can’t be read, the ATM will read the mag-stripe.” Cardholders are used to dipping mag-stripe cards quickly, said Hillery. “If a cardholder dips an EMV card too quickly in an EMV dip card reader, they are asked to reinsert their card,” she said. “However, people are likely to just re-swipe their card too quickly.” Typically, this prompts the ATM to display a card read error message indicating the card has been removed prematurely. This message displays for 5–6 seconds before the ATM allows the card to be re-inserted. “The problem is that many cardholders are likely to walk away at this point, assuming the ATM is out of service,” said Hillery. “This costs the ATM owner a lost transaction.” Triton’s new software addresses this problem. Instead of displaying an error message if a customer re-inserts their EMV card too quickly, it just tells them to re-insert their card and hold it until the chip has been read.


Maintenance IADs and ISOs may not be aware that EMV based ATM card readers need to be cleaned more regularly than mag-stripe card readers. “EMV card readers contain landing pins that the chip engages with, which need to be cleaned,” said Hillery. “The EMV card readers get dirty from the environment and also from dirty cards, and then they fail. Non-EMV card readers also get dirty, but to a lesser extent than EMV card readers, so ATM operators and technicians aren’t used to having to maintain the mag-stripe card readers regularly.” If an EMV card reader malfunctions due to being dirty or because it cannot read an EMV chip, it will default to mag-stripe, unless the ATM operator has turned off the setting for default to mag-stripe for EMV cards. It is up to the ATM acquirer and/or the EMV card issuer to decide whether they will accept and process the default to mag-stripe transaction. If the ATM has a skimmer attached to it, and the EMV card reader defaults to mag-stripe, then the card’s mag-stripe can be skimmed. If the card’s PIN is also captured, then a criminal can then create a counterfeit card for fraudulent transactions at non-EMV compliant ATMs. Benefits of clean EMV card readers Having a clean EMV card reader that is able to process EMV chips is part of the EMV compliance process and saves on chargeback costs, fines from card networks, and maintenance costs, said Barbara O’Connell, director of marketing at Auburn, Maine-based KICTeam, which offers ATM cleaning kits for EMV card readers. Finally, ensuring EMV card readers are clean saves on maintenance costs, as there is reduced need for technicians to visit the ATM for service calls.

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