PURCHASE, N.Y. – This week MasterCard announced it is working to reduce chargeback costs to merchants who have not yet transitioned to EMV. Following the October 1, 2015, liability shift, many merchants are seeing exorbitant chargeback costs. The MasterCard network system will now prevent invalid chargebacks for fraud occurring at ATMs and automatic fuel dispensers where liability shifts do not go into effect until October 2016 and October 2017, respectively.

MasterCard also announced changes to its EMV terminal testing and certification program to speed up EMV adoption at U.S. merchants. The card company operates a chip terminal testing and certification process used by merchant bank acquirers and value-added resellers (VARs) before terminals go live at checkout. The new program maintains terminal testing and certification quality while easing in-store terminal activation by empowering acquirers and VARs as follows:

• Acquirers can now follow recommendations and use MasterCard terminal testing procedures or they can choose alternative testing processes and tools that support the integrity of their existing procedures. MasterCard has also cut the number of needed tests by 58%, minimizing mandatory tests and allowing acquirers to use their discretion and expertise in deciding when terminals are ready for deployment.
• VARs will receive more resources to help navigate terminal configurations, test processes and ramp up in-field issue resolution. For example, if the cardholder experience is impacted by a terminal, documentation will exist to assist in resolving the issue in a timely manner.
• Acquirers and VARs will benefit from published guidelines on standard terminal test configurations, which will improve the testing cycle and simplify testing processes.

In terms of EMV adoption, MasterCard says that almost 70% of all U.S.-issued MasterCard branded consumer credit cards are now chip cards. Chip-active merchant locations have also increased to 1.4 million, up 240% since October 1. This number includes 1 million chip-active local and regional merchants.