In its third meeting in February in Salt Lake City, the EMV Migration forum elected a steering committee and discussed the progress of its four working committees.

The forum is a cross-industry organization formed to address issues related to EMV migration in the U.S. that will require broad cooperation and coordination. The forum comprises 120 member companies, including payment brands, financial institutions, ATM operators, merchants, processors, acquirers, regional debit networks, industry suppliers and industry associations.

“The EMV Migration Forum has really hit the ground running in the first six months of operation,” said Randy Vanderhoof, acting director of the EMV Migration Forum “[T]he Forum is already making large strides in advancing education, coordination, and cooperation around the U.S. migration to EMV-enabled cards, devices, and terminals.”

Steering committee

In January forum members elected a steering committee that will lead the organization’s efforts in 2013/2014. The committee includes members from a variety of payments industry sectors:

Acquirers/Processors

  • Sarah Hartman, TSYS
  • Patty Walters, Vantiv

Global Payment Networks

  • Carolyn Balfany, MasterCard
  • Karen Czack, American Express
  • Simon Hurry, Visa Inc.
  • Ellie Smith, Discover Financial Services

Industry Suppliers

  • Dan Heimann, ACI Worldwide
  • Nick Pisarev, Giesecke & Devrient

Issuers

  • Jesse Lee, Wells Fargo
  • Andrew Paur, Woodforest National Bank
  • Matthew Connelly, Chase
  • Whitney Stewart, SunTrust

Merchants

  • Kristy Cook, Target
  • Chris Coward, Publix Super Markets
  • John Drechny, Walmart
  • Laura Ermer, McDonald’s U.S.A.

Regional Debit Networks

  • Nancy Loomis, STAR/First Data
  • Robert Woodbury, FIS/NYCE

General Members

  • Mansour Karimzadeh, SCIL/EMV Academy
  • Robin Trickel, Heartland Payment Systems

Working Committee Progress

“More than two-thirds of our member organizations are participating in the committees and represent a broad cross-section of the industry,” said Vanderhoof. “These committees will be integral in carrying out the work and vision of the forum.”

Debit and EMV Working Committee. Led by co-chairs Emily Santos of SunTrust and Oliver Manahan of MasterCard, the committee serves as the forum to address the question of chip debit routing in the U.S.

Communication and Education Working Committee. Led by co-chairs Diane Jackson of CPI Card Group and Mansour Karimzadeh of SCIL. The committee has released its first publication, “The Standardization of Terminology,” which defines common chip, EMV, and EMV migration terms for use in educational and marketing communications. Additional projects are in progress, including an EMV stakeholder survey report.

U.S. Coordination Working Committee. Led by co-chairs Mark Rennie Davis of MasterCard, Jan McGrath of Discover Financial Services and Dan Jovanovic, City National Bank. The committee is exploring ways to generate efficient and consistent operations and messaging across the industry.

Certification and Testing Working Committee. Led by chair Randy Burnette of VeriFone. The committee is working on three projects focused on defining: current payments certification and testing requirements in the U.S.; how requirements will change with chip-enabled EMV payments; and the nature of certification and re-certification processes with EMV.

The forum will meet next on March 21–22 in Atlanta, Ga. Membership information, member lists, and membership applications are available online.

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