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Tackling EMV: 4 action items to ease the deployment effort

BTM Global President Tom Schoen provides insight on preparing and executing a payment technology migration.

October 20, 2016

By Tom Schoen

Everyone's talking about payment technology, especially EMV. With high-profile security breaches appearing often in our headlines, retailers and consumers alike are anxious to improve security throughout the entire payment process. 

Payment technology migrations can be challenging for several reasons: With EMV, authorizers have been building and adding to the technology even as retailers are getting certified; there are many players involved; and transitioning the work to an in-house team can take time, money and resources.

Nonetheless, retailers are moving forward with enhanced payment technologies, including EMV, point-to-point encryption and tokenization. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation and Forrester’s State of Retail Payments 2016, large and mid-sized retailers are prioritizing payment security initiatives over other efforts, such as mobile payment.

There are a myriad of questions and considerations when preparing for and executing a payment technology migration, so let's take a look at the most common questions from retailers as they plan their efforts.

Where do I start?

A good plan can guide the migration and help to smooth any hurdles that may arise. For instance, being realistic on what the project will take from a cost, timing and resource perspective is key. Terms like EMV have almost become buzzwords, so make sure you really know what they mean and entail. Clearly delineating roles and responsibilities, along with defining the scope, will help make your migration more collaborative and transparent.

In addition, dedicating a team to this effort can make all the difference. I know that's not easy and everyone on your team has their day jobs, but the more people you can dedicate, the fewer surprises and more successes you'll have. In other words, if EMV is truly a priority for your organization, commit the money and resources to support it.

How do I make security a priority?

Payment security is an area of your organization that affects all others. Without it, key areas like your financial health, consumer confidence, loyalty and vendor relationships can all be in jeopardy.

The right systems, technologies and processes must be in place to support payment security. If you don't know where to start, a third-party partner can be brought in to analyze your current state, identify risk areas, along with guidance on how to best address them. In addition, the partner can help you make a business case for your EMV implementation, as well as guide you on change management processes to ensure an efficient adoption.

How do I make the project successful?

A payment technology migration, whether EMV, point-to-point encryption and/or tokenization, all require a lot of different players to get involved: You have the point-of-sale software provider, signature capture provider, authorizer and others that are all specialized and all come from different organizations.

To ensure success, know what you're getting from each of your vendors. There will be many to coordinate, all with their own priorities and areas of expertise; bringing in a technology partner with the experience and skill set for managing these vendors can help improve project coordination and visibility. Your technology partner should be experienced with EMV implementations specifically, as it's a constantly shifting landscape and a major change in the industry. Having a veteran partner that knows the industry, knows EMV, and that can relate how other retailers have been successful (or advise on pitfalls to avoid) will help your project be more successful.

In addition, key internal IT teams should be involved throughout the project. Their close collaboration with the technology partner creates a supportive culture that can tackle challenges more efficiently and collaboratively than siloed teams. It also helps smooth the transition after the implementation is complete.

Identify someone to drive the project—not just manage it. Whether this is an internal individual or your external technology partner, a driver will keep the implementation moving forward, keep all parties in close communication, and ultimately help the teams navigate to successful completion.

How do I take ownership afterwards?

Congratulations! Your payment technology migration is done. But a lot still has to happen.

Your teams must be up to speed and ready to take the reins. As noted above, your internal IT team should have been involved throughout the project and worked closely with vendors, which will help smooth the transition.

It's critical you take a clear-eyed view of your teams' skill sets and be realistic about what you can support internally and where you have to engage a partner to fill the gaps. This includes not only managing the day-to-day needs of your EMV implementation, but executing the employee training required to operationalize EMV.

Don't do it alone

Enhancing your enterprise payment technology can be a daunting task, but a good technology partner can make all the difference by helping to guide you through planning and prioritizing to ensure the project's success, along with taking ownership of the implementation after the fact.  While the industry may feel like it's rushing toward the latest technologies, taking your time to assemble the right team and the right plan will increase your likelihood of success.

Tom Schoen is president of BTM Global and is charged with setting and overseeing the strategic initiatives of the company, along with client management for BTM Global's largest clients. He has a history of managing complex, high-profile clients on a global scale, along with 30 years of software engineering experience including scientific, military and retail applications.