Difference between PCI and EMV compliance
By: Sergio - 9/25/2015

If understanding EMV Smart-Chip technology wasn't hard enough by itself, merchants will also have to be compliant with EMV and PCI standards. A brief look at history shows that the PCI Security Standards Council came together in 2006, administering PCI specifications throughout the industry. Card companies like Amex, Discover, JCB Intl, MasterCard and Visa agreed to incorporate the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) as the technical requirements of each of their data security compliance programs.

So what does this all mean? Simple:

PCI Compliance:

>  Was established to protect the the cardholder's data as it is processed by merchants. 
>  
>  Has steps for optimum security practices for building and maintaining a secure network to protect the cardholder's data 
>  
>  Implements strong access control measures, regularly monitoring, testing networks and maintaining an information security policy.

Now let's take a look at EMV. EMV started in Europe with MasterCard and Visa in 1995, so this technology was established well before the PCI Security Council was. Fast forward to the twenty-first century in the year 2015, EMV makes it's way into the U.S. All credit and debit cards now produced will have EMV smart-chip technology embedded. As most of us know, the liability shift starts in October 2015. However, the question remains: what is EMV compliance?

EMV Compliance:

>  Makes use of modern technology for cardholder verification (i.e. chip and sign). Will require you to insert your card into reader and
> sign to verify in the US.
> 
>  Requires EMV certification between the hardware and the credit card processor.
> 
>  Prevents cards from being cloned through the use of microprocessor on the card which produce unique encrypted output each time the card
> is used to prevent card skimming.

To summarize, let's say you are a merchant who's goal is to ensure your customer's credit card information is safe. PCI compliance ensures the information is not stolen and used fraudulently. In the event security is compromised, EMV compliance helps protect this stolen data to make it useless to the crook.

Difference between PCI and EMV compliance By: Sergio - 9/25/2015

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Difference between PCI and EMV compliance
By: Sergio - 9/25/2015