Retail Technology Tip #1 From Storis: Keeping Customer Credit Card Information Safe

Furniture World News Desk on 9/22/2015

by Storis

Credit card breaches and identity theft present a prevalent issue for corporations and small business alike in the United States. In order to combat this threat, due into effect this fall the leaders in the industry, Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, are jointly enforcing new liability policies. Financially disruptive attacks affecting millions of consumers and corporations, such as Target, heightened the initiative this past year.

As of October 2015, retailers will have the responsibility of certain fraudulent activity that happens in their store if they are not compliant with liability changes set forth by the major credit card companies. Whichever party, the retailer or the credit card institution, is more liable for putting the consumer at risk, will take on the financial burden of the theft. Previously the responsibility would have been that of the credit card company. Many European nations and Canada have been using advanced EMV technology, commonly referred to as “chip and pin”, for years and soon the US will too. (BusinessInsider)

EMV Chip and Pin Internal
Why should you prioritize adopting EMV in your retail store? This sophisticated system helps to thwart security hacks by an estimated 70% according to New Science. It has been seen in Europe & Canada that hacking groups responsible for credit card breaches shy away from nations that utilize EMV. US retailers who shift over to EMV narrow down the odds of being a target.

How does EMV work? Traditional magnetic strip credit cards contain sensitive, unchanging data, including account numbers, expirations dates and CSVs, that are easy to steal and more importantly easy to use by an unauthorized party. EMV is designed to make the process of stealing data much more difficult, protecting the account owner from theft. The computer chip technology in each card creates a unique transaction code that cannot be used again, greatly reducing the effectiveness of traditional hacking techniques.

What will EMV look like in the retail environment? For retailers, using EMV requires new in-store processors and compliance with liability procedures. Consumers will need to activate new cards and also follow in-store procedures. There is some preparation involved in adopting EMV, but the reward to both consumers and retailers is gained confidence in information security. EMV cards take a little longer to process, using a “dipping” method as opposed to a quick swipe. Though that time increase is the computation and secure data exchange that makes EMV more secure. A signature or chip pin will be required as a second validation point. In addition, POS systems do not store any sensitive data at the point of transaction, as they previously would have with magnetic strip transactions. (CreditCard.com)

What other benefits are there to becoming EMV certified? The risk of not switching to EMV is not just about avoiding a potential breach, but about proactively delivering an environment that customer’s feel comfortable shopping in. The sense of security that a consumer feels when shopping is vital to maintaining a competitive advantage and building brand trust.


About STORIS: Founded in 1989, STORIS continues to be the leading provider of Retail Software Solutions and Services to Big Ticket retailers of ALL sizes. Over 350 Clients utilize STORIS’ single ERP solution including point of sale, mobile processing, supply chain management, customer care, accounting, ecommerce solutions, business intelligence and more. 

For more information of STORIS’ new EMV certified Credit Card Processing integration or any questions on the EMV liability changes, contact 1.888.4.STORIS  or leave a message at https://www.storis.com/contact/ 

Technology Tips From Storis

Articles in Technology Tips From Storis