News

Visa, MasterCard unite to advance EMV migration

March 7, 2014

MasterCard and Visa have formed a new cross-industry group intended to increase payment system security, the companies announced today. Initially, the group will focus on the adoption of EMV chip technology in the United States, as well other security-related topics.

"One of the critical roles we play is to protect consumers and businesses against criminals and fraudsters," said Chris McWilton, president of North American markets at MasterCard. "Only through industry collaboration and cooperation will we address the real and immediate issue of security and maintain consumer confidence and trust. EMV will be the next step in these efforts, alongside enhanced security solutions for online and mobile channels."

The diverse group will include FIs, acquirers, retailers, point-of-sale device manufacturers and industry trade groups. Its formation will ensure that all voices are able to contribute to the strategic direction of payment security, the card companies said.

"The recent high-profile breaches have served as a catalyst for much needed collaboration between the retail and financial services industry on the issue of payment security," said Ryan McInerney, president of Visa Inc. "As we have long said, no one industry or technology can solve the issue of payment system fraud on its own."

The group will take on issues that include:

• advancing the migration to EMV in the United States;
• promoting additional security solutions like tokenization and point to point encryption; and
• developing an actionable roadmap for securing the future across all segments of the payments industry.

MasterCard and Visa also expect that the new group will complement and engage with other efforts across the industry, including proprietary risk councils, EMV task forces and standard management bodies.