EMVCo Statement – The Advancement of EMV® Chip Specifications

EMVCo Statement – The Advancement of EMV® Chip Specifications As the technical body managing the advancement of EMV® Chip, EMVCo is focused on ensuring its specifications effectively evolve to support the payments marketplace globally. In meeting this goal EMVCo has recognised that its EMV 2nd Generation (EMV 2nd Gen) plan is no longer the best approach to support industry needs today and predictions for long-term requirements. Rather than proceeding with EMV 2nd Gen which was a full re-design of the card payment platform, EMVCo instead plans to ‘unbundle’ relevant features of the EMV 2nd Gen draft specifications and incorporate selected 2nd Gen functions in today’s EMV Chip Specifications. It also supports the continued evolution of the EMV card payment ecosystem in a more time-effective and cost-efficient manner by allowing selective implementation of features by those that are interested, without unduly impacting backward compatibility with the existing infrastructure. The decision not to publish the EMV 2nd Gen Specifications was reached after monitoring recent developments in payment technology and extensive consultation with the EMVCo Board of Advisors1 to understand the industry’s current and future requirements. A key issue for the payment community was concern that existing chip infrastructure could not be sunset until all global regions had implemented EMV 2nd Gen, resulting in a financial burden of supporting both platforms for an extended period of time. EMVCo continues its commitment to evolve and advance the current version of EMV Chip Specifications to meet future payment requirements. In selecting 2nd Gen functions for development EMVCo will consult with its Board of Advisors and other interested industry participants. To stay informed of the latest EMVCo developments and receive advanced access to EMV Specifications and related documents, join the EMVCo Associates Programme or become a Subscriber. – ENDS – EMV® is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo, LLC. 1 A geographically diverse group of different sector stakeholders in the card payments industry. © 2019 EMVCo, LLC. All rights reserved.