The first step in upgrading to Visa chip & PIN is to speak with your Acquirer/Payment Processor; they can help you assess the readiness of your POS system for the chip & PIN platform, and select the solution that best meets your business needs. This evaluation should cover the following components, which may or may not need to be modified:

• The terminal-to-retailer host interface
• The terminal-to-retail workstation interface
• In-store terminal controllers
• The retailer-to-Acquirer/Payment Processor host interface
• Infrastructure of retailers who support their own back-office systems
• Capacity planning for retail networks that process, log and back up transactions

If you run a restaurant, a wireless chip-reading terminal can help you gain both increased efficiency and the potential for fraud protection that chip & PIN technology offers. You also benefit from improved service for the growing number of guests, international and Canadian, who will be presenting Visa chip & PIN cards at your establishment. Research shows that 86% of restaurant guests surveyed prefer to pay using wireless terminals over other payment methods.¹⁰ With wireless terminals, guests don't have to leave the table or line up to pay, and their Visa chip & PIN card remains within sight for the duration of the transaction.

The ease of learning how to use chip & PIN can help facilitate quick and seamless uptake by your staff. Not only do staff surveyed say that training on chip & PIN was fast;¹¹ but 81% of staff members felt chip & PIN was easier to use than cards with a magnetic stripe,¹² and they experienced fewer errors¹³ - all of which helps promote a positive experience for customers.

Processing a chip & PIN transaction is easy. Follow these simple steps:

1. Check for the chip on the Visa card.
2. Instruct the customer to insert the Visa chip & PIN card into the chip-reading terminal/PINpad. The Visa card is not swiped.
3. The Visa chip & PIN card remains in the terminal for the full duration of the transaction.
4. The chip-reading terminal prompts the customer through the transaction and requests the PIN.
5. The customer removes the card from the terminal/PINpad when prompted. No signature is required unless indicated by the terminal or through the printing of a signature line on the receipt.

To download the chip & PIN Quick Reference Card, click here.

To find out more about implementing chip & PIN, contact your Acquirer/Payment Processor.

⁹The Implications of Chip & PIN Migration: A Canadian Retailer's Perspective - J.C. Williams Group, January 2007
¹⁰Consumer Response to Chip Cards in the Hospitality Industry - Commins Wingrove, August 2006
¹¹The Implications of Chip & PIN Migration: A Canadian Retailer's Perspective - J.C. Williams Group, January 2007
¹²The Retailer Experience of chip & PIN, Centre for Retail Research - The Implications of Chip & PIN Migration: A Canadian Retailer's Perspective, J.C. Williams Group, January 2007
¹³Survey of 600 retailers across all major business categories - The Centre for Retail Research, 2005