MasterCard Canada Sets 2010 EMV Migration Goal
MasterCard Canada is to roll out EMV chip cards in the country between 2007 and 2010 at an estimated cost of CDN 1 billion, in an endeavor to reduce increasing levels of card skimming. Twelve MasterCard issuers and five acquirers are to participate in the migration to chip-based payment cards, with a view to completion by 2010. Visa Canada this year announced that liability for fraud on its cards would shift to non-chip compliant parties in 2010 but MasterCard does not plan a liability shift for its 2010 goal, which it says is a response to natural market progress.CanadaÆs debit card association, Interac, could issue EMV cards by end-2006, but EMV card issuance is tipped to peak after 2007. About 53.4 million Visa and MasterCard cards are in issue in Canada, and in 2004 both associations wrote off CDN 163.1 million to fraud after 177,081 cards were compromised, versus fraud losses of CDN 138.6 million and 146,310 affected cards in 2003. Bank card fraud is increasing, and in 2004 CanadaÆs banks reimbursed CDN 60.2 million after 27,000 bank cards were compromised, up from CDN 44 million on 48,900 affected cards in 2003.
MasterCard-issuing banks are free to set their own EMV migration timetable but after 2010 cards without a chip are predicted to be in a minority. The EMV cards will support loyalty and reward programs in addition to contactless payments under MasterCardÆs PayPass brand. Canada is slightly behind the US in terms of contactless payment support, but Citi Cards is reported to be running a pilot of 5,000 cards at 62 Petro-Canada fuel stations. In time, MasterCard Canada is also likely to issue EMV-based contactless payment cards in Canada for greater security. Related Links:
Canada To Issue EMV Chip Cards From Mid-2006
Canada To Deploy EMV-Compliant POS Terminals
Canada's Gas Stations See Increasing Card Fraud
