Article

Webinar: EMV answers from an expert

Execs from CIBC and NCR discuss what it takes to achieve a smooth, successful EMV implementation.

June 27, 2013 by Suzanne Cluckey — Owner, Suzanne Cluckey Communications

If you want to know how something is done, ask someone who's done it. (And we might add the very important adverb, "successfully.")

Want to know how to repair an obscure brand of Swedish clothes dryer? Google "Appliance Ninja," and you'll find a guy with tons of experience who can give you start-to-finish instructions (not including how to avoid a trip to the ER for stitches).

But as far as EMV implementation in the U.S., while almost everybody is talking about how EMV migration is done, hardly anybody's done it. So uncertainty persists and anxiety grows.

In a one-hour webinar on Tuesday, "EMV migration: Lessons from the trenches," Canadian FI CIBC and Atlanta-based NCR Corp. took on the subject with "been there, done that" assurance that comes from a long, involved working experience with EMV migration.

The session took the form of a structured conversation — between Andrew Smith, senior director for payments and fraud technology at CIBC, and Owen Wild, global marketing director at NCR — that delivered a solid 45 minutes of EMV insights on aspects of EMV ranging from how to handle project kick-off to how to introduce customers to their new chip cards.

Wilson started the discussion by asking Smith about the process CIBC established for EMV migration.

"Actually the program setup took a bit right out of the gate. And that's really the kind of kickoff, in making sure you've got the right governance structure the right communications structure, and No. 1 is making sure the senior executives are saying, 'Yes, you are the priority,'" Smith said.

"We all have a number of functional things we want to do, be they revenue-generating, cost-saving — there's a number of projects everybody's all got on the go — but if this is secondary to them, you'll probably have a hard time getting to it."

Smith then walked through the various areas and elements of program management, as well as the project components that had to be defined and addressed — all the way down to the minutiae of card art, which had to change because of chip placement.

"It's definitely not a short road to just pick up and move to EMV," he said.

In particular, Smith discussed the time required for certifications — not just of the kernel in the ATM, but also the brand certification of the ATM and its software and make sure those pieces are working correctly. And of course, he said, the project team was well aware that everybody would be "running for the door at the same time" to get certified, which made it important for CIBC to iniate the process as early as possible. 

Wilson also asked about coordination of the various moving pieces of the CIBC implementation. Smith said this took weekly cross-project meetings with lead project managers to make sure they were working with the right milestones and issues — including things that seemed simple (but weren't) such as when to issue cards.

The conversation went on to address management of the customer experience through the change to chip cards and benefits to CIBC of its program implementation, with Smith providing a detailed recount of how each step was planned, organized and executed.

The webinar finished up with a 15-minute Q&A session that gave webinar attendees the opportunity to have their particular questions about EMV implementation addressed by industry members who had been "in the trenches" of EMV migration.

The free webinar is now available for online replay, and will remain on the ATM Marketplace site for 12 months.

Read more about EMV.

About Suzanne Cluckey

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Suzanne’s editorial career has spanned three decades and encompassed all B2B and B2C communications formats. Her award-winning work has appeared in trade and consumer media in the United States and internationally.