Within four months of its launch, the EMV Migration Forum has grown to 100 members representing global payment brands, financial institutions, merchants, processors, acquirers, regional debit networks, device manufacturers and industry associations.
The forum, an independent organization created by the Smart Card Alliance, supports the coordination of steps required to migrate from magnetic stripe technology to secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States.
"The rapid growth of the EMV Migration Forum membership shows that everyone in the payments industry is on the same page regarding the need for cooperation and collaboration to ensure the migration to EMV-enabled cards, devices, and terminals in the United States is successful," said Randy Vanderhoof, acting director of the EMV Migration Forum. "It is remarkable to sit in on Forum meetings and see members of every part of the payments industry have a voice in U.S. EMV migration."
In December, more than 200 attendees from member organizations convened at Visa corporate headquarters in Foster City, Calif. A lengthy portion of the meeting was devoted to the progress of the four EMV Migration Forum working committees: the Debit and EMV Working Committee; the Communication and Education Working Committee; the U.S. Coordination Working Committee; and the Certification and Testing Working Committee.
The committees have mostly finalized their objectives and aligned around initial projects; they used part of the December in-person meeting to communicate their projects and progress to the entire membership base.
As a next step, the forum members will elect a steering committee; this committee will form a governance body to lead the Forum in the next year. Steering committee elections will be open through Jan. 25, 2013.
The next meeting of the forum will take place on Feb. 4, 2013, at the Smart Card Alliance 2013 Payments Summit.
For more on this topic, visit the EMV research center.
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