News

Discover Network joins EMVCo

September 3, 2013

Discover Financial Services has become the latest payment network to join EMVCo, the EMV standards body has announced. Discover will work with existing EMVco members to manage the contact and contactless EMV industry specifications to facilitate worldwide interoperability and acceptance of secure chip payment instruments.

Discover has acquired a one-sixth share of EMVCo from the respective holdings of its current member-owners American Express, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay and Visa. It will therefore have an equal interest in the standards body, actively contributing to the management, technical work and operations of EMVCo.  

According to Dave Meadon, current EMVCo executive committee chair, the addition of Discover as an equity member underscores the importance of the EMV standard for the global payments industry. 

"The existing members of EMVCo value the additional resources and contributions that new members provide as we address the broad and diverse needs of the international payments community," Meadon said. "As an established end-user of the EMV specifications, we welcome the industry knowledge and extensive chip card experience that Discover will bring to EMVCo's work program."

Discover is the second new member to join EMVCo in 2013. In May, the standards body announced that UnionPay had become its fifth owner-member.

Read more about EMV.