Visa to assign EMV Chip liability for fraud ATM transactions to acquirers or issuers

Liability will shift in Asia Pacific from 1 October 2015.

In a statement, Visa Inc. announced a timeline to encourage acquirers to upgrade ATMs in Asia Pacific and the U.S. to accept EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) chip cards. Visa will assign liability for counterfeit fraud ATM transactions to the party – acquirer or issuer – that has not adopted EMV chip technology. If an EMV chip card is used at an ATM that cannot accept EMV chip-enabled cards, the ATM acquirer will bear the cost for counterfeit fraud. Currently card issuers bear the liability for fraudulent ATM transactions.

“Visa’s roadmap is designed to make the security and flexibility of EMV chip technology available to consumers and issuers in every environment, including ATMs,” said Ellen Richey, chief enterprise risk officer, Visa Inc. “This new timeline balances the interests of issuers and ATM operators and provides time to include chip integration into ATM hardware upgrade plans. As a result, the entire marketplace can more quickly realize the strong security benefits of EMV chip technology in this critical channel.”

Visa has established the following timelines for ATM transactions, across all Visa and/or Plus branded products:

• Effective 1 October 2015 – Liability will shift in Asia Pacific, excluding China, India, Japan, and Thailand
• Effective 1 April 2015 – U.S. third-party ATM acquirer processors and sub-processors must be able to support EMV chip data
• Effective 1 October 2017 – Liability will shift in China[1], India, Japan, Thailand, and the U.S.

As previously announced, from 1 April 2013, a liability shift will apply to all qualifying transactions taking place in Australia and New Zealand. With liability shifts already in effect in Europe; Canada; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa; by 2017 Visa issuers and acquirers will be able to rely on a single global liability policy that encourages chip-on-chip (EMV chip card read by an EMV chip card reader) transactions at both the point-of-sale and ATMs.

Since EMV chip payment devices generate dynamic values unique to each transaction and that change with every use, chip technology adds an additional layer of security that helps significantly reduce card present fraud. By encouraging investments in EMV chip technology, Visa is encouraging improved international interoperability and security with dynamic authentication as well as helping to build a foundation for mobile payments.