ATLANTA – To better serve the economically vital small business community, First Data announced this week that they have extended their partnership with Sam’s Club to provide greater access to payment and technology solutions services for small businesses, with an added focus on EMV-readiness.

First Data, a payment technology and services solutions provider, will staff on-site business consultants in Sam’s Club’s locations throughout the country to better assist Sam’s Club members by offering hands-on demonstrations of its comprehensive solutions for business owners. The partnership is increasingly timely as small businesses face the upcoming October deadline to implement EMV-compliant payment systems.

“With this expanded agreement, First Data is making a significant commitment to millions of Sam’s Club members who currently operate or are looking to open a business in the U.S.,” said Chris Foskett, head of global, strategic and national accounts at First Data. “Extending this relationship with Sam’s Club gives us the opportunity to enable more business owners and operators to achieve their dreams.”

The First Data collection of small business solutions features Clover™, a dynamic business management system that uses cloud-based software to enable businesses to securely accept payments (including mobile and online), manage inventory, track revenues, improve customer loyalty and generate reports. Clover hardware is EMV-ready to securely accept chip-card technology and new payment types, including payments via mobile devices. First Data is easing access to EMV-ready technology ahead of October 1, 2015, when credit card counterfeit fraud liability will generally shift to merchants that are not using chip-enabled point of sale devices.