Level Four launches Guide to EMV Migration at the ATM
January 6, 2011 in Level Four
Level Four, the leading provider of automated ATM software testing solutions, has launched a Guide to EMV Migration at the ATM. Here, Ian Kerr, CEO of Level Four, highlights the challenges facing financial institutions in the migration and the critical role of testing at the ATM.
“The migration to chip cards is one of the biggest global changes impacting the ATM channel and according to EMVCo, 36 per cent of total cards in circulation worldwide are now EMV compliant. However, this leaves well over half the market either still in the process of migrating, such as Canada and Australia, or yet to make the decision to move, such as the United States.
“As we know, the biggest impetus to move to EMV is to reduce fraud losses. However, the migration itself prompts a technology refresh that also benefits the ATM channel. For example, EMV offers ATM deployers greater flexibility, which ultimately enables them to improve service level uptime and reliability. EMV also offers the chance to replace legacy systems that have up to now inhibited banks from rolling out cutting edge ATM services.
“However, the advanced functionality and increased personalisation that EMV enables results in a far more complex ATM environment. Therefore, although the business case to move to EMV is compelling, the migration and ongoing management of EMV ATMs should not be underestimated.
“One of the particular challenges that EMV presents is in maintaining ATM uptime and continuing to provide customers with high levels of service. This is not only in terms of managing the initial migration to EMV but critically, this relates to the ongoing operation of the EMV infrastructure in the long term.
“Testing is particularly important at the ATM as EMV migration changes the entire network environment. There are thousands of different transaction scenarios resulting from the many different types of EMV cards and transaction combinations and also changes in technical components. This increases the likelihood of faults occurring, making testing a far more critical component in the ATM lifecycle.
“A manual testing regime for EMV-based transactions is not viable, due to the increased volume and complexity of test case scenarios and this means many financial institutions will need to update their testing strategies.
“As more countries consider EMV migration, and with the US now looking increasingly like a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, the Level Four ‘Guide to EMV Migration at the ATM’ details best practice learnt from countries that are already using EMV and explains how can this more complex ATM environment can be effectively managed. Visit the Level Four website to download your free copy.”