4 Lessons From Canada's EMV Migration That Provide Insights For U.S. VARs

By Bernadette Wilson

Industry analysts are using a variety of methods to try to predict how the U.S. EMV migration will progress. Jeff Guthrie, CSO of Moneris, suggests, however, that retail IT VARs can gain insights from looking back at how the migration progressed in Canada. Moneris had a front row seat for the Canadian (and now U.S.) migration, currently processing more than 3 billion payment card transactions each year at more than 350,000 merchant locations across North America, 95 percent of which are EMV enabled. 

In this exclusive interview with Business Solutions, Guthrie shares four things that will be helpful to U.S. VARs helping their merchant IT clients transition to EMV payment technology that uses chip cards that create unique codes for each payment transaction to help combat card fraud.

1. Remember That Procrastination Is Human Nature

Guthrie says in Canada, businesses that had larger liabilities from card fraud were the first to transition to EMV. As for other merchants, Guthrie says it took other factors to nudge (or push) procrastinators to implement EMV technology. Canadian consumers — who had grown weary of compromised cards — grew accustomed to holding on to their payment cards and began to equate EMV with secure transactions. “It’s odd, if you think about it,” says Guthrie, “in retail you held on to your card, and in a restaurant a server went  into the back with your card.” He says after retail transitions to EMV, other segments like fast food and fast casual will likely follow. EMV will then roll out payments for services like healthcare and in field services that take payments with mobile devices.

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