EMVCo, the EMV standards body jointly owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa, has welcomed eight new members to the programme since the beginning of the year.

The aim of the EMVCo Associates Programme is to encourage all payment stakeholders to play a more active role in guiding the strategic technical direction of the EMV standard, and contribute to the evolution of the advancing global payments landscape.

Cubic Transportation Systems Limited, Equinox Payments, FIME, Planet Media and Nationz Technologies have joined the programme at Technical Associate level, with ANZ and Vantiv joining as Business Associates. Carrefour Banque has become both a Business and Technical Associate, while EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited has upgraded its participation from Business Associate to incorporate Technical Associate status as well.

As Technical Associates, the new additions will join the existing members to engage with all eight of EMVCo's working groups and provide input on detailed technical and implementation issues connected to the EMV Specifications. Business Associates have the opportunity to contribute to strategic business matters related to the use of EMV technology.

Joe Cunningham, current Chair of the EMVCo Executive Committee, comments: "As we witness continued adoption of EMV technology globally, it is encouraging to see new members from different industry sectors participating in the Associate Programme. The initiative provides interested stakeholders with a platform to engage with the organisation and provide input to the creation of future EMV Specifications. This in turn will help to further the global adoption of EMV through increased understanding of the technology."

Technical Associate participation is available to all payment industry stakeholders, including financial institutions with an interest in monitoring the EMV Specifications, the annual fee is $25,000. Business Associate participation is open to all payment card issuers, acquirers, merchants, processors, card and terminal vendors, networks and their representative associations, the annual fee is $12,500. EMVCo also runs a subscriber service, which offers advance notice of pending developments and changes, as well as an opportunity to participate in a more regular and formal dialogue with EMVCo. The service is open to all industry stakeholders for an annual fee of $750.