The EMV cards were supposed to be the answer to all of our hacking woes. But, researchers are finding some serious flaws in this technology. While it isn’t new technology, it is new to the ‘States, making us worry about our new debit and credit cards. Are they really safer? What do we, as merchants, need to do?
According to new research, hackers could re-write the coding on the cards to virtually turn it into an old-timey signature card – you know, the cards that we just cut up because they were dangerous to use. The good news (if there is such a thing) is that this has not been done yet, and it cannot be done by any random hacker: It takes major skill, and they believe that very few hackers actually have this skill. Nevertheless, it could happen.
So, what if you are a merchant can you have processed a hacked card? What do you do? What can you do? Well, you can be prepared. You need to make sure that you have the funding at hand in case something happens. This isn’t from a bank loan, or from a plasma transfusion, but a merchant account provider. Not all offer business funding, and certainly not high risk business funding for those with businesses in that dreaded “high risk” category. You need to search this out, before chargeback fees take you over.
Business funding options vary, but they all work tend to work about the same: Your funds are deposited into your merchant account, and you make small payments through each credit card payment that you receive. There are no huge payments that interfere with your business, and no bothersome phone calls from the bank. You are pretty much guaranteed to repay your funds, since it automatically comes out of your merchant account. This is the best thing for you to do to make sure that your business is going to be okay when a fraudulent charge hits – besides the fact that you need a cooperative merchant account provider.
If, or when, a EMV card is hacked, you need to be ready. Be sure that you have the funds to cover the chargeback – as well as a cooperative merchant account provider to help you along the way.