This October marks the official EMV liability shift for payment card issuers, merchants and acquirers. Rather than issuers bearing the responsibility for fraudulent payment card transactions, the liability will fall on whichever party has not implemented EMV functionality.

Many larger U.S. financial institutions are in the midst of initiatives to upgrade all customers to chip-enabled EMV cards by October. But for credit unions, many of which lack the resources, flexibility or budget to upgrade in such a tight timeframe, the decision to adopt EMV is more complex. These organizations have two critical choices to make: Whether or not to fully implement EMV by the liability deadline, and what level of implementation to strive for.   

By evaluating the EMV upgrade and its opportunities from multiple perspectives, including cost-benefit, risk and member/customer impact, credit union leaders can develop sound strategies for the near and long-term.