GB nº 11, Lower Voltage Card Migration Mandatory Implementation Schedule

General Bulletin No. 11 Third Edition November 2013 Lower Voltage Card Migration Mandatory Implementation Schedule This General Bulletin describes changes to the implementation schedule for Lower Voltage Cards.

Applicability

This bulletin applies to:  EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems Version 4.3, Book 1

Related Documents

This bulletin should be read in conjunction with:  EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems Version 4.3, Book 1, Section 5 - Electromechanical Interface  General Bulletin 11 Second Edition, February 2007.

Description

In February 2007, EMVCo released General Bulletin 11 Second Edition that:  outlined a schedule to migrate all single voltage cards (class A1) to multivoltage (class AB or ABC) by the end of Q4, 2013; and  identified the end of Q4, 2013 as the date from which 3V-only terminals (class B) may be placed for EMV payment EMVCo recently launched a consultation process using a questionnaire and direct contact with card and terminal vendors to try to better understand the status of the migration. From the responses received it learned that the card migration process is on schedule and that all cards in circulation after Q4 2013 will have migrated to 1 A = 5 volts, B = 3 Volts, C = 1.8 volts

class AB or class ABC. However, on the terminal side, very little interest was expressed in deploying 3V-only (class B) terminals after the end of Q4 2013. Therefore to minimise the costs and resource involved in providing type approval testing for class B terminals which may not be required for some time, EMVCo has decided to revise the migration schedule mandated by that bulletin. Further, demand for class B terminals will continue to be monitored, and accordingly this migration schedule may be revised again in the future. To address the above, the earliest allowable date for placement of class B terminals has been deferred by two years. Although not strictly required, the latest date for migration of all cards to class AB or class ABC has also been deferred by two years as there is no benefit to maintaining the currently mandated date. The following schedule shall now be followed: Dates are end of quarter A AB ABC A B Q4 2008 Q2 2009 Q4 2009 Q2 2010 Q4 2010 Q2 2011 Q4 2011 Q2 2012 Q4 2012 Q2 2013 Q4 2013 Q2 2014 Q4 2014 Q2 2015 Q4 2015 Q2 2016 Cards Terminals Milestone Specification Published All cards in circulation shall be converted to class AB or class ABC 3V-only (class B) terminals may be placed for EMV payment  5V-only (class A) terminals remain valid  There are no plans to phase out class A terminals Class A terminals (or the 5V component of multi-voltage terminals) shall continue to be built to and type approved against section 5.5 of EMV Version 4.3 using the parameters and characteristics specified as being applicable up to December 2015 until all cards are converted to AB or ABC. Date Q4 2002 End Q4 2015 End Q4 2015 End Q4 2015

Specification Change Notice The dates mentioned in EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems Version 4.3, Book 1, Sections 5.1, 5.3 & 5.5 shall be changed as follows:  December 2013 shall be changed to December 2015  January 2014 shall be changed to January 2016