August 22, 2023

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, securing electronic transactions has become a top priority for businesses and consumers alike. Our speakers will explain strategies to harness its benefits for you and your customers, unravel the complexities of EMV for IBAs and showcase its pivotal role in saving businesses time and money.
 

Transcript

Michelle Benedetti, Director of Payment Operations: Okay, we're gonna go ahead and get started. So thanks for joining, everyone. Today we're going to be discussing EMV in the In-Bay car wash space. Before we dive into our content, just a few quick housekeeping items to tell you about. At the bottom of your screen, you should see a Q&A button. We'll be answering questions at the end of the webinar, so go ahead and type your questions in there as we go along. If we don't have time to answer your question today, we'll follow up after the webinar, with answers to all the questions, as well as today's transcript. If you run into any technical issues or questions, feel free to put those in the Q&A as well, and we'll have someone from our team help you. So today we're going to explain EMV, and discuss the different options that DRB^® offers for your In-Bay car wash. At the end of the presentation, we'll provide you with contact information for our team for any questions that you might have. My name is Michelle Benedetti. I'm the Director of Payment Operations. I focus on DRB's Washify brand, as well as our In-Bay car washes. I've been in payments for over 15 years, and have been in the car wash space for three years. I'm excited to start working with everyone to become EMV capable.

Tracie Vindel, Payments Administrator: Hi, my name is Tracy Vindel. I started my career in the credit card processing world a little over 10 years ago. I started out in customer service, and then worked as a relationship manager before coming over to DRB. I've been in payment operations with DRB for a little over a year now, and I've enjoyed learning so much about the carwash industry.

Michelle: So, what is EMV? People always talk about it, but I'm not sure if people actually know where it came from or what it really means. EMV is the global standard for credit and debit card payments, named after its original developers, Europay, MasterCard, and Visa. With EMV, your customers can swipe or tap their cards to pay, and your business can be confident that your customer's card information is safe. The EMV standard is the future of payments technology, as it enables safer, smarter, and more secure transactions across cards, contactless, mobile, and remote payment options.

Unlike magnetic stripe cards that store read-only data, EMV cards use an embedded integrated circuit, also referred to as a chip, to read and write card data. The chip allows for dynamic data exchange, and ensures transaction security by creating a unique code each time the card is used. Because the data changes with each new transaction, EMV cards are are harder to successfully counterfeit.

Tracie: So who uses EMV? The short answer is everyone. In most developed economies, EMV has been the norm for years. The United States is among the last major markets to adopt EMV. This is largely due to the cost of replacing cards and terminals, as well as ingrained consumer behavior in the United States. Increasingly, more and more buyers will be issued credit cards with EMV chips, and more and more sellers will need to update their payment terminals.

This chart shows EMV adoption rates across the globe. As you can see, the US has been trailing behind the rest of the population, but has made strides to catch up in the last two years. According to the most recent data from EMV code, as of June, 2022, nearly 85% of in-person transactions, were processed using a chip card.

Michelle:Now we're going to talk about some reasons why you should consider making the switch to EMV. The first is, it makes customers feel more secure. EMV allows for end-to-end encryption, which means that when your customer inserts their chip card into the reader, the data in their card is encrypted, and then securely transmitted to the payment processor. Once the payment processor receives that information, they return a secure token back to the system, which then allows you to process that transaction. Because of this encryption methodology, the card holder data is never vulnerable to attack, or exposure by hackers.

This helps businesses in two important ways. The first way, it reduces fraud. EMV transactions are much more difficult to counterfeit than traditional magstripe transactions. What this means, is that you and your business, are less likely to be a victim of fraud, where someone is using stolen card information to make purchases. It also increases customer loyalty. Accepting chip transactions, gives your customers peace of mind, because they know that their card information is safe when they shop at your business. It also lets them know that you're investing in the future, and will be able to offer them the multiple payment options they've come to expect.

Tracie: EMV provides a variety of easy to use payment options. EMVV hardware opens the door to mobile payments through Apple Pay and Google Wallet, as well as nearfield communication, NFC technology. The number of total mobile wallet payments done in 2020 was 2 billion. NFC tap payments are a faster and easier consumer experience. This allows customers to bring their debit card or credit card with an inches of the reader to make the transaction happen. Tap and go is is the newest feature available to customers, and they will appreciate that you are making their purchasing experience easier. Many consumers, including myself, no longer carry physical cards with them.

If a business doesn't have this technology, they're losing out on a sale. At a car wash, this easier to use technology is especially helpful as it allows the customer to easily and quickly tap the card or phone, instead of fumbling to swipe a card in an antiquated reader. It's important to note, that Apple Pay and Google Pay are intended for one-time purchases like single washes, and can't be used to sign up arm or subscription plans. Customers will need to insert their chip card into the reader for those transactions.

Michelle: With the EMV liability shift complete across all industries as of April, 2021, the card brands, issuers, and processors have started to put measures in place to drive business owners towards EMV acceptance. As of June of this year, most of the major credit card processors now have a non EMV program in place. Merchants are typically put into these programs when 10% or more of their in-person transactions are swiped instead of chip read. These programs vary in cost, with many adding an additional 25 to $50 per month, as well as another 10 to 20 cents per transaction.

These fees add up quickly. And especially in a volume-based business like car washes, it can significantly increase the percentages that you're paying each month. Also due to the liability shift, the responsibility for fraud related chargebacks is now entirely on the merchant, which means that the number of chargebacks that you're seeing, is probably going up, and the number of disputes that you're able to win is decreasing. As the market continues to shift towards greater security for customers and for banks, magstripes are one of the biggest vulnerabilities in the industry. While a chip card continually encrypts the data to prevent theft and fraud, the magstripe contains static information that can be decrypted by skimming devices. These devices are mostly found at unattended ATMs and gas stations, and contain a device that stores and transmits your card data to an identity thief.

Beginning in 2027, card issuers will no longer require banks to issue cards with magstripes. And their plan is to eliminate them entirely by 2033. This means that without an EMV reader, business owners simply may not be able to process all of their customer's cards when the shift occurs, which is going to result in a loss of revenue.

So, how can DRB help? That's why we're all here today. We are offering a full suite of new EMV ready equipment, as well as retrofit kits for your existing unit tech devices. We also have options for DRB tunnel if you have those as well. So, we're going to be able to help you review your options and determine the best one for your business. It's important to us to help you become EMV capable, especially as the industry continues to shift away from magstripes.

So the first step in making the switch, is to contact us for a consultation. Tracie and I are the experts here on this subject, so we'll be able to review your current setup, what equipment you have, what processor you use, and we'll be able to let you know what sort of steps you'll have to take to make this upgrade. During the review, we'll let you know that if the upgrade requires you to make a processor change, if you do have to make a processor change, we'll introduce you to our sales partners who will assist you in setting up the new account.

Tracie: Then after your initial consultation with our payments team, we'll forward your information to one of our In-Bay sales representatives, and your distributor, and we will tell them you need to place an order for an EMV upgrade. The DRB team has been preparing for these upgrades for some time, and we have upgrade kits and new EMV capable equipment ready to ship.

Michelle: And once you place the order with your distributor, our sales partners will contact you to set up the new merchant account if needed. And it's important to note on this piece that, as soon as the order is placed, you should engage with the process of getting the new merchant account set up, so that you can make sure there are no delays in installing your new equipment.

Tracie: Then after the new merchant account is set up, our In-Bay support team will work with you, to ensure that your new equipment is programmed, and ready to be used after installation. They will ask you for specific information about your business, and we'll confirm with you once the programming is completed.

Michelle: And now that you've set up your new account, you've ordered your equipment, the next step is to schedule the installation with your distributor. They're eager to help to make your business more secure, and to provide support during this process.

Tracie: And the last step is to start accepting EMV transactions.

Michelle: If you have additional questions about EMV, or if you wanna get started right away, please contact us at InBayEMVUpgrades@grb.com. Tracie and I are both going to be monitoring that inbox, and we're happy to answer any questions that you have. We'll work with you to choose the best solution for you and your business, and if you need help finding a distributor, we can connect you with one in our area. Okay, so now it's time for questions. Taking a look here at what we've got so far, Tracie, it looks like we've got two questions about security and PCI compliance. Can you take those?

Tracie: Yes. So the first one says, "Why do I have to accept EMV cards, and is this legally required?" It's a good question. So the short answer is, no. There aren't any legal requirements that enforce EMV payments, but using an outdated magstripe reader increases the risk of accepting fraudulent payments. So to make sure you are accepting cards safely, you know, making sure your customer's information is being stored safely, sorry, is being taken safely. You wanna make sure that you have an EMV reader. And then the next one. "Does installing an EMV device and accepting EMVV cards make me PCI compliant?" Another good question. So PCI compliance and EMV are two separate things that both center around security. Each protects different aspects of cardholder data. EMV helps reduce card fraud, while PCI ensures that cardholder data is protected.

Michelle: Okay, awesome. Thank you. Okay, and then we've got a couple of questions about pricing and setting up the new merchant accounts, which I expected to see. So the first one here is, "Why do I need a new merchant account? How long is that going to take?" So you may not need one. It's going to depend on who you're currently processing with, and their capability to accept EMV transactions. Our goal in offering these EMV solutions is to make sure that we're giving you an updated solution, and a platform that provides better support, more robust reporting, and an overall better experience. Also, by having our customers on the same platform, it makes it much easier for our team to assist you with troubleshooting, with programming, anything that might come up.

And it also makes it a lot easier for us to release upgraded features in the future. In terms of setting up the new merchant account, it usually only takes like three to five days. Most of the time, one you engage with our sales partners to set up that new account, they'll call you back within, let's say, you know, 24 hours, and then they'll send you out the application, talk through some pricing with you, and then get that submitted on your behalf. And the next question we have is actually about rates. So if the new merchant account is required, our sales partners will work with you on the pricing, and make sure you understand everything that's on the agreement. We'll also work with you to make sure that we're not increasing your rates. It's not the goal of this. The goal is to make sure everybody's compliant, and that you're doing the best for your business.

So we'll make sure that we try to keep your rates at the same percentage that you're paying today, or lower whenever possible. Okay. And we've got some other questions that have been coming in. "Are EMV readers coming or available for wash pay?" So wash pay is on our roadmap. It's not yet available for EMV, but we will let you folks know when that's ready. Right now the main focus is going to be on the C starts, your portals. We have the wash select two, and beta testing right now, and expect that to be ready for GA soon.

And then we'll follow up with everybody about wash pay. "What's the price for the retrofit kits?" It's a great question. I'm not the best person to answer that for you folks. But what we can do, is if you'd like to shoot us an email, at the in InBayEMVupgrades@drv.com, it's a mouthful. If you send us an email at that email address, we'll either connect you with one of our In-Bay sales reps, or just send you right to your distributor so you can get more information on pricing. "Are EMV kit's going to be available for all self serve bays?" That's the goal. You know, like I said, we already have retrofit kits available for two types of devices. The third one is on its way. Sometimes there may be a little bit more involved in making that upgrade, but that's why we have our sales reps and your distributor ready to help you. Sorry about that. And then we have one more question here. We have EMV readers.

Okay, so the next question we have, is about the user interface on the EMV readers. We know it's going to be a change in customer behavior. In the days of just strictly magstripe, at any point during the transaction, you could just swipe your card and the transaction would start. With EMV, there is a change that, you know, wash owners need to be aware of, as well as their consumer customers. You have to make sure that you're choosing credit at the beginning of the transaction in order to wake up the EMV reader, so to speak. You need to make sure that that's being done. And you know, we can work with you on signage, we can work with you on quick reference guides for your teams at your washes.

We'll do whatever we can to make sure that that's an easy transition for you. It looks like those are all the questions that we have right now. If anybody else has anything that you think of later, or that you'd like more information on, please send us an email, and Tracy and I will make sure that we get back to you within one business day. But other than that... Oh, I think I see one more question that popped up. "How long do we expect the EMV readers to last?" We've got plenty of them. Please reach out to us and buy them. We would love that. So yeah, don't worry about the stock. We've got plenty of 'em. We're ready to go, and we wanna make sure that you guys get these as quickly as possible. Alright, now it's time for the last slide. Thank you for joining us. A copy of this webinar transcript, and all the questions and answers will be sent to you in our follow-up email. Thank you very much for your time. Have a great one.