In this post, Carey Ferro, Chair of the EMVCo Board of Managers, reflects on some of the key milestones from EMVCo in 2023, and looks ahead to upcoming initiatives planned for 2024. To discover more, download the EMVCo Annual Report 2023 from the Long Reads section of the Knowledge Hub.
Supporting emerging payments
Amid changing consumer behaviour and technological innovation, EMVCo is focused on helping enable seamless, reliable and secure payments across new and emerging use-cases.
In 2023, EMVCo established the Electric Vehicle Open Payments Task Force to explore how EMV® payment technology could help support a secure and seamless electric vehicle (EV) charging payment experience. An immediate priority was engaging with industry bodies such as CharIN, ISO and the Secure Technology Alliance to examine opportunities for integrating EMV Specifications with existing EV charging standards and protocols to support interoperable, open payments.
EMVCo has welcomed interest and input from EV manufacturers and charge point operators, with TotalEnergies recently joining the EMVCo Board of Advisors. The aim is now to work toward the release of a final specification based on the ISO 15118 ‘Plug & Charge’ Standard, once publication is approved by the EMVCo Board of Advisors.
Another emerging payments trend is the use of smartphones and other handheld devices to not only make, but also accept, payments. While there are already hundreds of thousands of devices deployed in the field, they deliver an inconsistent user experience. EMVCo’s TapToMobile initiative – which aims to enable a good experience when consumer mobile devices are used for contactless payment acceptance – was a key focus in 2023, and EMVCo expects to publish the TapToMobile Level 1 Test Guidelines and Acceptance Criteria in early 2024.
EMVCo also engaged closely with the industry last year to support the growing use of biometric payment cards and explore the development of dedicated performance and security requirements. Following input from leading industry players, EMVCo is now developing supporting approval testing and laboratory accreditation processes.
Enhancing online commerce
EMVCo continues to work with the industry to deliver enhancements that offer consistent, convenient and secure online payments, helping merchants reduce fraud and lower cart abandonment.
To support merchants, payment service providers, product owners, developers and CX designers in simplifying online checkout, EMVCo published the draft EMV Click to Pay Customer Experience (CX) Guidelines in 2023. After receiving input from Associates, Subscribers and following a subsequent public review, the guidelines will be finalised and published in the first half of 2024.
Preventing or detecting attacks that could compromise the security of payment authenticators also remains integral. This is why EMVCo has released security requirements to support the development of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) solutions – detailing the security level that products and solutions need to achieve to be used as a payment authenticator in consumer devices such as smartphones, laptops, vehicles and IoT devices.
We also continued to evolve the EMV 3-D Secure (EMV 3DS) Specifications to improve support for Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) and automated out-of-band (OOB) authentication features.
Evolving the EMV Chip Specifications
EMV Chip is a fundamental enabler of global commerce, and EMVCo continued to progress various initiatives to evolve the EMV Contact and Contactless Chip Specifications over the last year.
Following the publication of the EMV Contactless Kernel Specification in 2022, EMVCo has been working on the supporting approval process, which aims to reduce the development cycle, increase test efficiency and speed up testing with automation. After extensive engagement with EMVCo Associates, EMVCo plans to publish the testing process in 2024.
Promoting industry collaboration and engagement
None of these developments are possible, of course, without active engagement and collaboration with the payments industry. We collaborate with hundreds of industry stakeholders, technical bodies and regulators to develop EMV Specifications that support innovation and address marketplace needs.
In the last year, EMVCo Associates and Subscribers showed great engagement once again, joining us at ten EMVCo events, with 260 attendees joining us in-person, supported by 175 virtual attendees.
We were also pleased to establish new industry liaison partnerships through collaboration with CharIN, Java Card Forum and the OpenWallet Foundation. This brings our total partnerships up to almost twenty, adding to long-standing relationships with FIDO Alliance, GlobalPlatform, ISO, NFC Forum, PCI SSC, W3C and more.
Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, we are committed to a collaborative approach to further advance specifications that support the delivery of reliable and convenient payments across both emerging and established channels.
If you’re considering opportunities for participation, get in touch today to discuss the value of collaborating with likeminded payments industry stakeholders.
by Brian Byrne