AmEx jumps aboard US EMV train

02 July 2012 | 6436 views | 1 card chip

Following in the footsteps of Visa, MasterCard and Discover, American Express has set out a timetable for its US abandonment of mag-stripe cards in favour of EMV chip technology.

Last August Visa set out a three-step plan to encourage dynamic chip authentication adoption, requiring US processors to be able to support merchant acceptance of the technology by April 2013 before switching liability to retailers that have not upgraded in October 2015.

Earlier this year MasterCard and Discover fell in line and have now been joined by the last of the big four, AmEx, which will begin issuing EMV-compliant cards in the latter half of this year. Like its rivals, the company has stressed the rising popularity of contactless and mobile payments as well as security as key reasons behind the switch.

Suzan Kereere, GM, AmEx Global Network Business, says: "The payments industry is continuing to evolve rapidly, and American Express recognises the growing demand for chip-based contact and contactless payments in the US. We also fully recognize the complexities involved in migrating to EMV chip-based technology, and our first priority is to provide choice and flexibility for merchants and our card-issuing partners so they can adopt the EMV solution that best meets their needs."

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Alexander Peschkoff - TEDIPAY - London | 02 July, 2012, 10:57

It's surprising that the decision by Amex is presented as a separate event - Amex is a member of EMV, and hence would "naturally" be expected to play ball.

In less than a year, over 90% of the cards issued worldwide will be based on "chip", i.e. EMV ("chip"/"chip-n-PIN" will become de facto standard for retail payments. It's time to extend the security of that trusted and convenient payment method to online and mobile applications too.

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