Paragon Application Systems, the leading independent provider of ePayment simulation, configuration and testing solutions, announces that it has joined the EMV Migration Forum.
Founded by the Smart Card Alliance, the EMV Migration Forum is a group of payments industry professionals who are collaborating on issues related to the migration from magnetic stripe cards to EMV chip-based cards in the United States.
To increase electronic payments security, many countries worldwide have migrated from magnetic stripe credit and debit cards to EMV chip cards. The computer chip in the EMV card stores card holder data more securely than the magnetic stripe. In addition, chip cards can interact with ATM and POS devices to exchange security information that validates both the card and the device, which makes counterfeiting much more difficult.
Converting to EMV chip cards requires changes in everything from card holder behavior to chip card processing. To successfully implement EMV in the United States, there need to be clear guidelines on how to address the mandates laid out by the major card associations.
Paragon brings experience working with customers world-wide on their EMV implementations to the EMV Migration Forum. During the Canadian EMV migration, Paragon assisted customers during their EMV development and certification with Canada's top merchant processor, Moneris, and Canada's National Debit Network, Interac. Paragon has worked directly with global acquirers, processors and issuers to develop and test their EMV architecture.
"Aligning all of the industry stakeholders and forming a community where the experienced organizations and the new entrants to the EMV payments market can gather and share information is critical to the success of the EMV migration in the U.S.," says Randy Vanderhoof, acting director for the EMV Migration Forum. "Having Paragon Application Systems as a member of the EMV Migration Forum adds valuable expertise into the Forum that they have acquired from successful EMV rollouts in other regions."
"We are very excited about joining the EMV Migration Forum," says Gary Kirk, President of Paragon Application Systems. "The move to chip cards is difficult and complex, and we applaud collaborative efforts such as this. It doesn't make sense for each individual organization to face the challenges of chip alone, and the extensive EMV experience and knowledge of our staff positions us to make a strong contribution to the conversation."