CO-OP has passed EMV certification with Visa, based on its work with Bank-Fund Staff FCU as the test credit union. Bank-Fund Staff FCU tested CO-OP's Phase I processing solution of online EMV transactions from a contact EMV card.

"We are extremely pleased that the test EMV cards performed so well for Bank-Fund Staff FCU and to have passed Visa certification for EMV," said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. "CO-OP is developing EMV technology in a phased approach and we expect to make our online EMV debit solution generally available to clients later this quarter."

Bank-Fund Staff FCU (www.bfsfcu.org), Washington, D.C., is the credit union for employees and family members of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"We have members and staff who work, travel and live overseas, so we have a real need to issue EMV(chip) credit and debit cards," said Liang Han, General Manager, Electronic Payments, for Bank-Fund Staff FCU. "We reached out to CO-OP Financial Services and became their beta tester for online EMV transaction processing."

Bank-Fund Staff FCU issued 11 EMV-enabled Visa debit cards to members and staff during the pilot EMV period, which extended from late December to early April. This is the first step in the credit union's overall EMV strategy.

"The timing for the test was perfect as several of the people we issued cards to were heading overseas," said Han. "We had people using the cards in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Romania, Peru and Uruguay."