6TH ANNUAL SMART CARD ALLIANCE PAYMENTS SUMMIT, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Feb. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. migration to secure chip-based EMV payments requires new activities and collaboration of many participants throughout the payments industry. Who are the players and what parts do they play? The Smart Card Alliance Payments Council answers these questions in a new interactive PowerPoint tool released today. Available for free download on the Smart Card Alliance website, the tool identifies every stakeholder involved in the full EMV ecosystem, their roles, and their links to other participants.
"Education is a critical factor in making the United States payments industry's move to EMV payments a success," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "This PowerPoint tool is a neatly-organized and very thorough way to answer questions stakeholders have regarding their role and how they need to work with other participants in this new payments ecosystem."
The tool is an easy-to-use PowerPoint slideshow. Viewers play the show and click on one of the buttons on the first page. When they get to the full ecosystem graphic, they will see every player required to issue and accept EMV cards and devices. They simply click on any participant and it takes the viewer to the page that describes that participant - their role, examples of their activities, and how they relate to other participants.
"The future chip-based payments infrastructure will provide great value to all stakeholders - including merchants, acquirers, issuers and consumers. For this value to be fully realized, all of the stakeholders require a strong understanding of the various participants and their interdependencies, which will ultimately increase the prospect of a seamless migration. This tool helps get that conversation started, and provides a great educational foundation for everyone on the path to EMV," said Oliver Manahan, vice president of emerging payments with MasterCard and co-chair of the Payments Council.
To further educate themselves and their peers, the Payments Council is attending the 6th Annual Payments Summit this week through Thursday at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. Known as the industry's leading forum for smart, secure payments, the three-day event features feature senior experts from every leading transaction platform: EMV card payments, mobile payments, and transit payments. For more information, visit www.scapayments.com.
Project Participants
The creation of the EMV Ecosystem Resource from the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council was led by Dori Skelding, Chase Card Services. Payments Council members that were involved in the development of this toolincluded: Acumen Building Enterprise; American Express, Apriva; Connexem Consulting; Discover Financial Services; FIS; Gemalto; Giesecke & Devrient; Heartland Payment Systems; Infineon Technologies; JPMorgan Chase; Dale Laszig; MasterCard Worldwide; NagraID Security; NXP Semiconductors; Oberthur Technologies; Quadagno & Associates; SHAZAM Network; TSYS; Valid USA; VeriFone; Visa Inc.; Wells Fargo.
About the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council
The Smart Card Alliance Payments Council focuses on facilitating the adoption of chip-enabled payments and payment applications in the U.S. through education programs for consumers, merchants, issuers, acquirers/processors, government regulators, mobile telecommunications providers and payments service providers. The group is bringing together payments industry stakeholders, including payments industry leaders, merchants and suppliers, and is working on projects related to implementing EMV, contactless payments, NFC-enabled payments and applications, mobile payments, and chip-enabled e-commerce. The Council's primary goal is to inform and educate the market about the value of chip-enabled payments in improving the security of the payments infrastructure and in enhancing the value of payments and payment-related applications for industry stakeholders. Council participation is open to any Smart Card Alliance member who wishes to contribute to the Council projects.
About the Smart Card Alliance
The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.
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