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EMV certified terminals by the major card processors and the card issuers, like Visa and MasterCard and replace their outdated payment devices.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.

October of 2015 marked a big month for FreedomPay customers – it represented the deadline for merchants to transition more than one billion payment cards to the EMV standard, and upwards of 12 million credit card terminals at merchant locations.  FreedomPay’s advanced commerce platform made the transition easy, and merchants are lauding the service expertise FreedomPay provided along the way.

 “Ensuring the security of consumer payment data is a top priority for merchants across all industries,” said Chris Kronenthal, Chief Technology Officer of FreedomPay. “Working with leading organizations in lodging, gaming, retail, foodservice, healthcare and higher education to implement PCI best practices including EMV, tokenization and Validated P2PE, FreedomPay is helping merchants secure their payment environment, prevent EMV liability exposure and reduce scope for PCI compliance.”

While FreedomPay’s innovative technology is the key to making transactions easier and more secure for customers, providing service that goes the extra mile is what sets us apart. This emphasis on service is why we offer on-site support for our stored-value program rollouts.  Clients of all sizes benefit from hands-on training and support for product launches.  For instance, we spend one day a week at the headquarters of one of our largest foodservice clients to ensure that we are meeting their needs as a partner.

We supply day-to-day account management to merchants to ensure their satisfaction. Our ten-person management team delivers expertise and experience in the payment industry, assisting our partners to solve for multifaceted challenges on demand.

Here at FreedomPay, we take pride in the fact that all members of the product support department are passionate about solving problems and finding technical solutions that truly address the needs of our customers.

We understand that our merchants aim to provide quality customer service, which is why we provide the same in return – especially during industry shifts like the transition to EMV.

When you partner with FreedomPay, you can rest assured that our team will provide exceptional, ongoing support to ensure that the products and services you use are deployed to your full satisfaction and are 100% operational.

Need help with anything? Our support team is available to current customers, partners, and future prospects. Visit FreedomPay online to learn more about our phenomenal customer service!

The House Financial Services Committee held a full committee hearing on data and cyber security, where the Members of Congress challenged payment industry experts on protecting consumer data in the era of computer hacking.

Brian Dodge of the Industry Leaders Association, Laura Moy of the New America Foundation, Stephen Orfei of the PCI Security Standards Council, Jason Oxman of the Electronic Transactions Association and Tim Pawlenty of the Financial Services Roundtable were called to speak before the Committee.

The panel covered a range of issues, from foreign cyber security threats, to malware at the point-of-sale, to card fraud and online fraud, to the costs of fraud on financial institutions, merchants and consumers.  Several Members debated ongoing legislation and the role that Federal and State regulators and law enforcement agencies should play in consumer breach protection.

In their opening statements, Mr. Oxman and also Mr. Orfei advocated for a layered approach to data security, with EMV at the point of sale, point-to-point encryption, and tokenization.

Mr. Orfei continued, “EMV chip is not a silver bullet.  Additional controls are needed to protect the integrity of payments online and in other channels.  This includes encryption, tamper resistant devices, malware protection, network monitoring and more.  All are vital parts of the PCI standards.”

As a solution provider, FreedomPay has committed to delivering the highest standards in the industry that help merchants protect their customers’ credit card data.  FreedomPay offers merchants the technologies and supporting programs be on the leading edge of payment data security, adhering to the rigorous PCI Validated P2PE standard, and extending functionality across the broad ecosystem of Card Present and Card Not Present payments.

EMV, PCI Validated P2PE and tokenization are what we do.  And really, that is only the beginning.  Just wait until you see what secure transaction data can do.