Executive Order 13681 And EMV Terminal Deployment
With the President's signing of Executive Order 13681 in October 2014, payment card acceptance by agencies at the point of sale (POS) will need to convert from magnetic stripe-based terminals to EMV "chip and PIN" technology to strengthen the security of consumer data and better protect citizens doing business with the federal government.
The government's credit and debit card program already includes protections against fraud, However, because of intensified threats and recent major compromises of card data in the private sector, the government must implement enhanced safeguards wherever card transactions are occurring to protect the privacy of citizens.
Executive departments and agencies that accept payment cards at the point of sale need to consider the impact of Executive Order 13681 to their operations. There are effectively two types of POS card acceptance methods employed by agencies today and supported by CAS:
- Standalone terminals directly supported by the CAS acquirer Vantiv, or
- Agency-specific integrated POS solutions.
Card not present scenarios are outside the scope of the EMV chip and PIN provisions of the Executive Order, so we will focus on the POS environment.
Replacing standalone terminals: The Fiscal Service is centrally coordinating bulk procurement of EMV-enabled card terminal and customer-facing PIN pad packages for deployment to all federal agencies that operate standalone terminals.
Agencies will enter into interagency agreements to convey ownership and reimburse the Fiscal Service for the cost of the EMV terminal packages. The Fiscal Service will work with each agency to schedule replacement of old standalone terminals for EMV-enabled terminal packages.
Agencies will receive state of the art, CAS-integrated EMV and NFC-enabled terminals built to provide a stronger defense of consumer data and use enhanced security features and technology for advanced POS security.
The Fiscal Service expects to start deployment of EMV-enabled terminal packages to agencies by June 2015 and complete deployment by September 2015.
Third-party integrated POS solutions: Federal agencies that have implemented agency-specific Electronic Cash Registers (ECRs) or third party POS systems/software are subject to the Executive Order and should promptly contact their solution provider(s) to identify their requirements and timeline to achieve the EMV chip and PIN standard.
EMV-enabling hardware or software upgrades made by an agency will need to be certified by each of the card networks and interface with the CAS program acquirer Vantiv. An agency's solution provider should be able to validate whether its upgrades are certified, and Vantiv can verify whether a particular solution is compatible and can be supported.
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Also, watch for CAS-sponsored education and other communications from the Fiscal Service.