July 5, 2012 – In a press announcement last week, American Express laid out the terms for its transition to EMV credit, debit and ATM transactions in the United States. The company’s program is similar to that previously announced by Visa and MasterCard but does have some differences. Amex plans to begin issuing EMV-compliant cards in the U.S. in the latter half of 2012.

Last August Visa set out a three-step plan to encourage dynamic chip authentication adoption, requiring US processors to be able to support merchant acceptance of the technology by April 2013 before switching liability to retailers that have not upgraded in October 2015.

Earlier this year MasterCard and Discover fell in line and have now been joined by the last of the big four, AmEx, which will begin issuing EMV-compliant cards in the latter half of this year. Like its rivals, the company has stressed the rising popularity of contactless and mobile payments as well as security as key reasons behind the switch.

Following in the footsteps of Visa, MasterCard and Discover, American Express has set out a timetable for its US abandonment of mag-stripe cards in favour of EMV chip technology. Key policy requirements and dates in the roadmap are:

• By April 2013, processors must be able to support American Express EMV chip-based contact, contactless and mobile transactions (same as Visa and MasterCard).
• Beginning October 2013, merchants will be eligible to receive relief from PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) reporting requirements if the merchants’ point-of-sale (POS) acceptance locations, where 75% of their transactions occur, are enabled to process American Express EMV chip-based contact and contactless transactions. (For MasterCard and Visa, the deadline falls in October of 2012.)
• Effective October 2015, American Express will institute a Fraud Liability Shift (FLS) policy that will transfer liability for certain types of fraudulent transactions away from the party that has the most secure form of EMV technology. U.S. fuel merchants will have an additional two years, until October 2017, before the FLS takes effect for transactions generated from automated fuel dispensers. (This is essentially the same as the MasterCard and Visa roadmaps, with the exception that those two guides state that liability will fall on the acquirer. Less specifically, AmEx has simply said it will fall “away from the party that has the most secure form of EMV technology.)

“The payments industry is continuing to evolve rapidly, and American Express recognizes the growing demand for chip-based contact and contactless payments in the U.S.,” said Suzan Kereere, senior vice president and general manager of American Express Global Network Business. “We also fully recognize the complexities involved in migrating to EMV chip-based technology, and our first priority is to provide choice and flexibility for merchants and our card-issuing partners so they can adopt the EMV solution that best meets their needs.”