The payment terminal beeps at a customer after she inserts her chip card into the slot on the bottom of the reader. The cashier has to tell her to swipe the card instead, in the latest case of what seems like the zillionth person to get it wrong.

You can’t blame the customer or the cashier for the confusion. A year after the liability shift of October 2015, there’s still a high level of inconsistency in the deployment of EMV acceptance among merchants. To accept the new chip cards, merchants must use EMV certified terminals by the major card processors and the card issuers, like Visa and MasterCard and replace their outdated payment devices.

But the reluctance to pay for updated payment devices and longer-than-expected certification processes have slowed the transition to what was supposed to be a more secure way to accept payments. And, it’s ironic that some merchants haven’t begun accepting EMV-enabled cards for fear of slowing down checkout lanes.

As promised, those merchants who didn’t make the transition to the EMV standard are seeing higher fraud chargebacks from the card brands showing up in their statements.

More than a year later, many merchants are behind the curve to secure cardholder data. What should they be concentrating on to catch up?

The key is to understand the three layers of the card data security environment. EMV is only one of those layers. The PCI Security Standards Council recommends that merchants also integrate Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) and Tokenization. FreedomPay’s Commerce Platform offers a turnkey solution that incorporates all three layers and is integrated into most major point-of-sale and property management systems, making implementation simple and seamless.

The FreedomPay Commerce Platform is a PCI validated, all-in-one solution for EMV, P2PE and Tokenization. It’s fully certified with the major card processors, so deploying the solution with Ingenico’s certified payment devices eliminates the need for merchants to undergo their own EMV certification. It’s a turnkey solution that saves time, money, and eliminates the swipe or dip dilemma at the checkout.

One of the key benefits of FreedomPay’s platform is the fact that it’s already validated. If a merchant uses another non-validated solution, the merchant is still liable to meet stricter PCI DSS requirements.

To address customer desire for faster checkouts, the solution also enables NFC mobile wallet payments such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.

So far, more than half of the payment cards in the U.S. have been upgraded to chip cards, with the card brands predicting that number will be much closer to 100% by the end of 2017. With chip cards in hand, consumers will expect merchants to be able to accept them to provide higher levels of security.

Merchants, particularly smaller merchants, shouldn’t undertake the EMV certification process on their own. It can take a lot longer and cost a lot more than expected and without P2PE and tokenization, the data is not as secure as consumers and merchants assume it to be.

Merchants of all sizes can use the FreedomPay Commerce Platform for an omni-channel card security solution for both card-present and card-not-present transactions, by using our Hosted Payment Page for e-commerce and a Virtual Terminal solution for call center transactions.

To learn more about complete card payments security solutions, click here.

On the heels of a national trend toward cashless transactions, higher education facilities, companies, and hospitals across the country have been looking for ways to automate cafeteria purchases. For customers, cashless transactions provide the transparency of knowing how their money is being spent. This only scratches the surface of the benefits the cashless FreedomPay system can offer a cafeteria. FreedomPay provides sites the opportunity to improve payment efficiency, reduce operating costs, increase sales, and enhance the cafeteria-goer experience. FreedomPay truly is an all-encompassing cashless solution.

For anyone who has been to a cafeteria, you know standing in line is the low point of the experience. FreedomPay greatly accelerates the payment process, allowing customers to speed through the checkout station with a swipe of their ID card, a separate key fob, or a sticker for the back of their ID.

In fact, our cashless system has already been successfully deployed at hundreds of major universities, hospitals and corporate cafeterias across the country.

FreedomPay benefits both the customer and the merchant. We already know FreedomPay offers the customer a fast and convenient way to pay. It also incorporates loyalty programs, giving customers ways to save money. Along with the loyalty program are incentives to opt for healthier foods by rewarding customers with bonus points for doing so. The carrot for the merchant is just as big, as the ease of payment increases the speed of service and reduces the demand on cashiers. Administrative headaches all but vanish as the secure payment system eliminates fraud and the resources necessary for cash handling. With a more streamlined payment service, merchants can serve more customers better than before.

FreedomPay integrates smoothly with all major POS systems.

With a turn-key and hosted service, required IT resources are kept to a minimum, allowing for the flexibility to expand to multiple campuses or locations. It also offers payment security to its users because no credit card information is included in the payment. Instead, customers are using points to pay which is independently funded by a credit card or attached to a bank account.

By Integrating FreedomPay’s platform with your legacy system you will save time and money! Go cashless in as little as six weeks with FreedomPay, and see why 98% of our customers are “extremely satisfied.”

Visit us online at FreedomPay.com to learn more about our cashless solution and how it benefits both customers and vendors alike.