EMV®Level 1 Specifications for Payment Systems: EMV Contactless Interface Specification

EMV® Level 1 Specifications for Payment Systems EMV® Contactless Interface Specification Version 4.0 January 2026

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The EMV® Specifications are provided “AS IS” without warranties of any kind, and EMVCo neither assumes nor accepts any liability for any errors or omissions contained in these Specifications. EMVCO DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AS TO THESE SPECIFICATIONS. EMVCo makes no representations or warranties with respect to intellectual property rights of any third parties in or in relation to the Specifications. EMVCo undertakes no responsibility to determine whether any implementation of the EMV® Specifications may violate, infringe, or otherwise exercise the patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, know-how, or other intellectual property rights of third parties, and thus any person who implements any part of the EMV® Specifications should consult an intellectual property attorney before any such implementation. Without limiting the foregoing, the Specifications may provide for the use of public key encryption and other technology, which may be the subject matter of patents in several countries. Any party seeking to implement these Specifications is solely responsible for determining whether its activities require a licence to any such technology, including for patents on public key encryption technology. EMVCo shall not be liable under any theory for any party’s infringement of any intellectual property rights in connection with the EMV® Specifications. January 2026

Revision Log – Version 4.0 The following changes have been made since the publication of Version 3.2. Some of the numbering and cross references in this version have been updated to reflect changes introduced by the published bulletins. The numbering of existing requirements did not change, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Incorporated changes described in the following Specification Updates: Specification Bulletin No. 282: PPS0 and PPS1 RFU Value Handling Specification Bulletin No. 283: PCD Carrier Phase Drift Specification Bulletin No. 300: PICC Presence Check Procedure Specification Bulletin No. 303: Adding an Optional Suspend and a Mandatory Suspend in the Polling Loop Specification Bulletin No. 315: Introducing EMV – TEST PCD 2 Other changes: Included FWTDESELECT in the definition of FDTPICC,MAX in section 4.8.1 A number of editorial and cosmetic changes Changed unit of FWTDESELECT from etu to 1/fc January 2026

Revision Log – Version 4.0. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1.6.1 1.6.2 1.6.3 1.6. 2. 2. 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3.1. January 2026

Contents 3.1. 3.1. 3. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3.2. 3. 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.3.4 3.3. 3. 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 3.4. 3. 3.5. 3.5. 4. 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1. 4. 4. January 2026

Contents 4.3. 4.3. 4. 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4. 4. 4. 4.6. 4.6. 4. 4.7.1 4.7.2 4.7.3 4.7. 4. 4.8.1 4.8.2 4.8. 4. 4.9. 4.9. 5. 5. 5. 5.3. 5.3. 5. 5.4. 5.4. 5. 5.5. January 2026

Contents 5.5. 5. 5.6. 5.6. 5. 5.7. 5.7. 5. 5.8. 5.8. 6. 6. 6. 6.3. 6.3. 6. 6.4. 6.4. 6. 6.5. 6.5. 7. 7. 7.2.1 7.2.2 7.2.3 7.2.4 7.2.5 7.2.6 7.2.7 7.2. January 2026

8. 8. 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.2.4 8.2. 9. 9.1. 9.1. 9. 9. 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3. 9. 9.4. 9.4. 9. 9.5. 9.5. 9. 10. 10.1. 10.1. 10.1. 10.1. 10.1. 10. 10.2. 10.2. January 2026

Contents 10. 10.3. 10.3. 10.3. 10.3. 10.3. 10.3. A. A. A. A. A. A. January 2026

Figures Figures Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. January 2026

Figures Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4.23: Start of Unmodulated Subcarrier of PICC Response (Positive Modulation)127 Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Figure 8. Figure 9. Figure 9. Figure 9. Figure 9. Figure 9. Figure 9. Figure 10. Figure 10. January 2026

Tables Tables Table 1. Table 1. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. Table 3. January 2026

Tables Table 3. Table 4. Table 4. Table 4. Table 4. Table 4. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 5. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. January 2026

Tables Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 6. Table 10. Table 10. Table 10. Table 10. Table 10. Table 10. Table A. Table A. Table A. Table A. Table A. Table A. Table A. Table A. January 2026

Requirements Requirements Requirements 1. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 3. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. January 2026

Requirements Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 4. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. January 2026

Requirements Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 5. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 6. Requirements 7. Requirements 7. Requirements 7. Requirements 7. Requirements 7. Requirements 7. January 2026

Requirements Requirements 7. Requirements 7. Requirements 8. Requirements 8. Requirements 8. Requirements 8. Requirements 8. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 9. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. Requirements 10. January 2026

1 General This chapter contains information that helps the reader understand and use this specification.

1.1 Scope and Audience This specification, the EMV Level 1 Specifications for Payment Systems, EMV Contactless Interface Specification, describes the minimum functionality required of Proximity Integrated Circuit Cards (PICCs) and Proximity Coupling Devices (PCDs) to ensure correct operation and interoperability independent of the application to be used. PICCs and PCDs may provide additional proprietary functionality and features, but these are beyond the scope of this specification and interoperability cannot be guaranteed. This specification is intended for use by manufacturers of PICCs and PCDs, system designers in payment systems, and financial institution staff responsible for implementing financial applications in PICCs and PCDs.

1.2 Related Information The following EMV documents provide information related to the subjects discussed in this specification. The latest version applies unless a publication date is explicitly stated. [PCD MANUAL] EMV Level 1 Specifications for Payment Systems – Contactless Test Equipment Specifications – PCD Manual [PICC MANUAL] EMV Level 1 Specifications for Payment Systems – Contactless Test Equipment Specifications – PICC Manual [CMR MANUAL] EMV Contactless Specifications for Payment Systems – Level 1 – Test Equipment Specifications – CMR Manual [DTE] EMV Contactless Terminal Level 1 Type Approval – Device Test Environment [SYMBOL GUIDE] EMVCo Contactless Symbol Reproduction Guidelines January 2026

1 General 1.3 Normative References 1.3 Normative

References

The following standards contain provisions that are referenced in this specification. The latest version including all published amendments applies unless a publication date is explicitly stated. [ISO/IEC 7810] Identification cards – Physical characteristics. [ISO/IEC 14443-1] Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards – Proximity cards – Part 1: Physical characteristics. [ISO/IEC 14443-2] Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards – Proximity cards – Part 2: Radio frequency power and signal interface. [ISO/IEC 14443-3] Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards – Proximity cards – Part 3: Initialization and anticollision. [ISO/IEC 14443-4] Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards – Proximity cards – Part 4: Transmission protocol. [ISO/IEC 13239] Information technology – Telecommunications and information exchange between systems – High-level data link control (HDLC) procedures. [ISO/IEC 10373-6] Identification cards – Test methods – Part 6: Proximity cards.

1.4 Acknowledgment Extracts from standards are reproduced on behalf of ISO with the permission of the British Standards Institution under licence number 2003SK/099. BSI & ISO publications can be obtained from: BSI Customer Services Phone: E-mail: Address: +44 (0) 20 8996 9001 cservices@bsi-global.com 389 Chiswick High Road London W4 4AL United Kingdom January 2026

1 General 1.5 Definitions 1.5

Definitions

The following terms are used in this specification: Collision Transmission by two or more PICCs in the same PCD energising field and during the same time period, such that the PCD is unable to distinguish from which PICC the data originated. EMV Contactless Level 1 Test Equipment EMV – TEST CMR Equipment for EMV testing, including:

• EMV – TEST CMR
• EMV – TEST PCDs
• EMV – TEST PICCs A signal switching and conditioning unit for the EMV test bench. EMV – TEST PCD A PCD simulator used for EMV testing. EMV – TEST PICC A PICC simulator used for EMV testing. IQ TEST PICC A PICC simulator used for EMV testing. It is used for testing IQ demodulation capabilities of a PCD. Legacy A device depending on a behaviour permitted by the specification to accommodate existing products in the field. Future versions of the specification may not support that behaviour. A new product should be designed not to rely upon the continued acceptance of that behaviour. Modulation index The modulation index of an amplitude modulated signal is defined as: mi = ([A(t)]MAX – [A(t)]MIN) / ([A(t)]MAX + [A(t)]MIN) where A(t) is the envelope of the modulated carrier. Operating Field The magnetic field (HOV) created by the PCD within the Operating Volume. Operating Volume The 3-dimensional space in which the PCD can communicate with a PICC by means of a magnetic field. January 2026 PCD Test Environment Protocol error Proximity IC Card (PICC) Proximity Coupling Device (PCD) Semantic error Syntax error Terminal Time-out error Transmission error 1 General 1.5 Definitions Test environment for testing the PCD requirements related to the RF Power and Signal Interface as described in [DTE]. A syntax or semantic error. Within these specifications, a PICC is considered to be a consumer token into which integrated circuit(s) and coupling means have been placed and in which communication to such integrated circuit(s) is done by inductive coupling in proximity of a coupling device. The consumer token may be a card of the ID 1 form factor (as defined in [ISO/IEC 7810]), a key fob, a mobile phone, or another form factor. The peripheral device of the terminal that uses inductive coupling to provide power to the PICC and also to control the data exchange with the PICC. A valid frame with no syntax error is received when it is not expected (Chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10). A valid frame is received with an invalid content: In this case the coding of the command or the block within the frame is not consistent with this specification (Chapters 5, 6 and 10). The device used in conjunction with the PICC at the point of transaction to perform a financial transaction. It incorporates the PCD and may also include other components and interfaces (e.g. host communication). No response has been sent by the PICC within the Frame Waiting Time (FWT). An invalid frame is detected by the receiver: Failure of a parity or CRC check, or determination that any of the signal modulation, the bit coding, the frame format, or the timing are not consistent with this specification (Chapters 3 and 4). January 2026 1 General 1.6 Notational Conventions 1.6 Notational Conventions 1.6.1 Abbreviations The abbreviations listed in Table 1.1 are used in this specification. Abbreviation AC ACK ADC AFI ASK ATQA ATQB ATS ATTRIB BCC BPSK BSI CID CLn CMR CT CRC_A CRC_B D DC EDC EGT EMD EoF EoS etu FDT Table 1.1: Abbreviations AntiCollision

Description

Positive ACKnowledgement Application Data Coding, Type B Application Family Identifier, Type B Amplitude Shift Keying

Answer

To reQuest, Type A Answer To reQuest, Type B Answer To Select, Type A PICC selection command, Type B UID CLn check byte, Type A Binary Phase Shift Keying British Standards Institution Card IDentifier Cascade Level n, Type A Common Mode Rejection Cascade Tag, Type A Cyclic Redundancy Check error detection code for Type A Cyclic Redundancy Check error detection code for Type B Divisor Direct Current Error Detection Code Extra Guard Time, Type B Electromagnetic Disturbance End of Frame End of Sequence Elementary time unit Frame Delay Time January 2026

1 General 1.6 Notational Conventions Abbreviation fc FO fs FSC FSCI FSD FSDI FWI FWT HLTA HLTB HLZ IEC INF IQ ISO LLZ LSB MBL MBLI MSB NAD NAK n.a. NLZ NRZ-L OOK PCB PCD PICC PPS PPSR PPSS Carrier frequency Description Frame Option, Type B Subcarrier frequency Frame Size for proximity Card Frame Size for proximity Card Integer Frame Size for proximity coupling Device Frame Size for proximity coupling Device Integer Frame Waiting time Integer Frame Waiting Time HaLT command, Type A HaLT command, Type B High Linear load International Electrotechnical Commission INFormation field In-phase Quadrature International Organization for Standardization Low Linear load Least Significant Bit Maximum Buffer Length Maximum Buffer Length Index Most Significant Bit Node ADdress Negative AcKnowledgement Not Applicable Non Linear load Non-Return to Zero, (L for Level) On-Off Keying Protocol Control Byte Proximity Coupling Device (reader) Proximity IC Card Protocol and Parameter Selection Protocol and Parameter Selection Response Protocol and Parameter Selection Start January 2026

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