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compromised fuel dispensers at 38 gas stations in one county alone. Similar quirements and certification process-
reports have been coming out of California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee es. If any component in the payment
and other states in recent months. flow changes, everything needs to be
recertified, which can take up to six
The problem is especially acute in densely populated regions, and at small months, several experts explained.
independent gas stations. "Geography makes a difference," Smith said. "Or-
ganized crime doesn't' travel across back roads much. Fraud flows like water The cost of rendering gas pumps
along the path of least resistance." EMV compliant can be stiff. About
three in 10 (31 percent) of owners sur-
And there are plenty of AFDs for fraudsters to target. As of last summer, just 15 veyed by Conexxus said cost was the
percent of fuel retailers with AFDs reported full deployment of EMV-compliant top challenge in getting up to speed
devices, according to a survey fielded by Conexxus, a technology consultant to with EMV. Other top challenges in-
convenience stores and fuel stations. Better than half (52 percent) had yet to cluded getting proper software and
deploy any EMV-compliant AFDs. certifications in time for the liability
shift.
Addressing high cost of compliance
Bringing card-accepting gas pumps into compliance with EMV rules can seem Ripping out existing pumps and in-
overwhelming, particularly for smaller shops. "There are a lot of moving parts stalling new ones costs about $15,000,
and pieces," Smith said. EMV-compliant fuel pumps require at least three sepa- or more, per pump, plus associated
rate parts: fuel controller, payment controller and outdoor payment terminal. construction and in-ground tank
costs, software, nozzles, hoses and
Typically, the fuel controller and the payment controller run on the same de- temporary loss of revenues from
vice, known as a fourcourt controller. AFDs also require solutions from man- downtime during installation, which
aged network service providers, like TNS, that connect purchases at the pump can last days. The all-in cost to a mod-
and indoor POS locations to payment processors. Complicating matters, retail- est-sized (two-island) gas station can
ers often get these solutions from different vendors, each with their own re- run $140,000, and up, according to
several estimates. There also are on-
going monthly software and support
fees, which can run $1,000, or more,
per month, Goldberg noted.

The cost of inaction, however, is po-
tentially much higher. TNS engaged
Mercator Advisory Services to de-
velop a calculator that puts dollar
amounts on the liability risk that
shifts to fuel retailers without EMV-
compliant AFDs. For a retailer with
AFDs at 12 locations spread evenly
across low- medium- and high-risk
areas, liability could exceed $200,000,
according to the calculator. "For a
small chain with fewer locations the
potential liability [cost] is lower, but
it's still significant," Lyman said.

There is a middle ground: retrofit-
ting AFDs for EMV, for half the cost,
or less, per pump. NRS, for example,
sells a retrofit package with an all-in
cost of about $10,000 per pump. "The
solution sells itself when you look at
the numbers," Goldberg said.

The NRS solution is PCI compliant;
supports QR code scanning, PIN-on-
glass, magnetic stripe reading, EMV
chip and PIN; and near field commu-
nication to support mobile wallet ac-

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