Vantiv Inc. is the first U.S. acquirer to complete host testing requirements to process both Visa and Interlink EMV transactions. The third largest merchant acquirer and the largest PIN-debit acquirer in the U.S., processing for eight of the top 25 retailers in the nation, Vantiv has strongly endorsed EMV.
From Vantiv’s press release:
“At Vantiv, we work to ensure our clients are informed and prepared for this important transition,” said Patty Walters, Senior Vice President for Merchant Products and Security at Vantiv. “EMV offers merchants and financial institutions new ways to limit counterfeit fraud and provides their customers a more secure shopping experience. While today is an important milestone for Vantiv, we remain focused on continuing to educate our clients and partners to ensure a seamless, timely transition for the entire industry.”
Most payment networks are requiring acquirers and processors to certify their processing platforms as EMV compliant by April 1, 2013. Completing these tests puts Vantiv well ahead of schedule to meet this requirement.
However, of the four milestones included on the networks’ roadmaps for U.S. EMV adoption, the milestone for acquirers and processors to support EMV is the only one that is mandatory. With just over a month left before the deadline, not a single merchant is fully compliant (although Vantiv is clearly close). If a requirement is being left until the last minute, what does that say about the likelihood that the non-required milestones will be met on time? With this in mind, expect the largest acquirers, processors, issuers, and merchants to all move slowly on EMV adoption.