PSCU Continues to Lead the Way in Payments Security and Fraud Prevention

CUSO reports a 20% decrease in card present fraud thanks to EMV implementation

 

St. Petersburg, FL (January 3, 2017) - Since the EMV liability shift on Oct. 1, 2015, PSCU has seen a 20 percent reduction in fraud that it attributes to the implementation of EMV technology. The CUSO was one of the first players in the credit union industry to offer plastics that incorporate EMV chip technology when it began its EMV deployments in 2011.

"PSCU proactively developed a unique implementation approach to EMV that was designed to fit the needs of our Member-Owner credit unions, as well as ensure that our credit unions lead their markets in terms of EMV technology deployment," said Vladimir Jovanovic, Director of Debit and Prepaid Product Management at PSCU.

Eighty-five percent of PSCU's credit unions have or are in the process of implementing EMV support for their credit cards; 60 percent of PSCU's Owners have deployed or are scheduled to implement EMV cards on the debit side. Card present fraud rates are already lower on EMV cards. Those rates are expected to improve substantially once widespread adoption takes place at the merchant level.   

"A pillar of PSCU's service model is collaboration, and it continues to be our strength and priority today. We have been able to leverage our network of industry partners to successfully bring EMV technology to our Member-Owners at scale," added Jovanovic.

While working on enabling support of EMV technology for cards, PSCU also deployed support of EMV card Instant Issuance, enabling PSCU's Member-Owners to provide an EMV card to members inside their branches. Many of PSCUs Member-Owners have been able to expand Instant Issuance to all card types they process with PSCU, with some jumping into Instant Issuance for the first time as part of their deployment of EMV technology.

Merchant EMV support continues to lag. As a result, PSCU has been able to charge back more than $7 million to merchants, which the financial institution would have had to cover prior to the liability shift. Card-not-present fraud rates have also started to increase slightly as fraudsters seek alternate avenues not impacted by EMV. PSCU has already identified tools and resources to help address the potential for increased fraud within that environment.

The CUSO is taking a similar approach with respect to upgrading ATMs to support EMV at its Member-Owner credit unions. Upgrading the machines in waves gives PSCU speed and agility within the deployment process.

"PSCU will always be committed to providing leadership in the fraud prevention space, and EMV is one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal today when it comes to protecting credit union members against the unauthorized use of their accounts," said Chuck Fagan, PSCU President and CEO.

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