Page 5 - GS140301

Letter from

the editors

ith media reports just in that Target Corp.'s
earnings dropped a whopping 46 percent
in its fiscal quarter that ended Feb. 1,
W 2014, and further news that the company
is faced with more that 80 lawsuits related to its mas-
sive 2013 data breach, data security has become a major
concern not only for payment professionals, but also for
far more merchants and consumers than ever before.
Merchants are realizing just how much reputational and
financial damage a data breach can cause, and millions
of consumers are now fully aware that their personal
information could be at risk when they swipe their debit
and credit cards to make purchases.

The major card brands determined that implementation
of Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) technology at POSs
throughout the United States is integral to solving the
data security puzzle. To that end, they instituted a
liability shift from issuers to acquirers for data breaches
occurring at merchant locations that are not EMV-
compliant by October 2015. All acquirers were to have
been able to support merchant acceptance of EMV
cards by April 2013, as well. Talk that this timeline is
unrealistic used to run rampant, but now an increasing
number of industry professionals are on the EMV
bandwagon. This issue's lead article takes a look at the
state of EMV in the United States and reports on the
successes and challenges insiders are encountering on
the road to implementation.

In addition, our contributing writers have offered their
insights on how to help merchants with EMV and
other data security measures; what to watch out for
when evaluating high risk merchants; how to leverage
machine intelligence in business; the potential sea
change in payment business models, including those of
major card brands; the need to bolster our weaknesses
while relying on our strengths; and how best to go about
screening and interviewing prospective employees.

As always, we've covered breaking industry news,
as well as plenty of news from our readers, including
company achievements, compelling research, promising
partnerships and acquisitions, executive appointments,
new products, upcoming events and more.

We want to showcase your news, too, so send your press
releases to press@greensheet.com. If it's of interest to the
payments community, we'll post it on our home page
right away. We welcome feedback, too. Tell us what you
think about recent articles and industry goings on via
phone at 800-757-4441 or email at greensheet@greensheet.
com.

5