What are EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations?

Billions of card-based payments are made and accepted daily. Whatever you are buying, wherever you are in the world, you expect your payment to be familiar, convenient, secure and reliable. EMV^® Specifications and the related testing processes help make this possible.

In this post, Arman Aygen, EMVCo Director of Technology, delves deeper into the testing processes, known as EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations, and the role they play in enabling seamless and secure in-person payments across the globe.

What are EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations?

As a global technical body, EMVCo develops EMV Specifications, EMVCo functional requirements, and EMVCo security requirements and guidelines.

These specifications, requirements and guidelines provide a technical baseline which enable any party to develop and deploy products and solutions that support the delivery of safe, reliable payments. EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations collectively refer to the various testing processes that confirm products meet this baseline for security, performance and compatibility when deployed:

• EMVCo Functional Approvals assess whether payment products meet EMV Specifications and requirements for performance and compatibility.
• EMVCo Security Evaluations assess whether payment products meet EMV Specifications, requirements and guidelines for security.

Are EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations mandated?

No. EMVCo does not mandate the use of EMV Specifications or require that products or solutions comply with the EMV Specifications. However, other entities may require conformance.

What payment products do EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations support?

Various EMVCo Approval and Evaluation testing processes have been defined for specific payment product categories. For in-person payments, these are EMV acceptance devices, EMV Chip cards and mobile payment form factors. And to support online payments, EMVCo has developed testing processes for EMV 3-D Secure (3DS) products.

Approved and evaluated products are listed on the EMVCo website.

How do EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations work?

EMVCo is responsible for defining the various product approval and evaluation processes, but it does not perform any testing ‘in-house’. This activity is delivered by specialist independent, recognised testing laboratories using qualified test tools.

To support this activity, EMVCo defines processes for recognising independent laboratories and qualifying test tools. This gives product and solution providers confidence when engaging third parties to test their products, with all recognised laboratories and qualified test tools also listed on the EMVCo website.

What are the benefits of EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations?

EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations deliver a range of benefits to payments industry stakeholders. These include:

• Global interoperability and reliability: EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations verify that payment products and solutions meet EMV Specifications for security, performance and compatibility when deployed, so they can work anywhere in the world.
• Trust: EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations promote trust, confidence and transparency across the payments ecosystem and provide publicly available listings of products and providers. This is supported by EMVCo Marks, which are easy-to-recognise symbols at the point-of-payment. These marks provide consistency and familiarity to the payment experience and inspire consumer confidence during the checkout process.
• Efficiency: EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations generate significant efficiencies, as they collectively enable payments systems to use the same fundamental testing processes. This then supports the accelerated deployment of approved and evaluated products into marketplaces across the world.

The benefits are illustrated by EMVCo’s achievement of ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation for its security evaluation processes. This demonstrates the value and quality of EMVCo security product evaluations in enabling the deployment of safer and more secure payment solutions.

How is EMVCo advancing EMVCo Approvals and Evaluations?

EMV Specifications play an important role in providing a common and flexible foundation for the delivery of new payment methods and options. This means that advancing the supporting testing processes and infrastructure in parallel with these specification developments is integral to enabling consistent, convenient and secure payment experiences worldwide.

This is why EMVCo works closely with EMVCo Associates, Subscribers and industry partners to streamline, enhance and optimise its Approval and Evaluation activities as specifications evolve and potential efficiencies are identified. Broad and sustained industry engagement also promotes Approval and Evaluation processes that are agile and reactive to address emerging payment methods and preferences. Learn more about how to get involved in this work here.