EMV Implementation for Acquirers: 10 Questions to Answer When Formulating Your EMV Device Budget and Timeline

7. What development and testing will be required to meet my card association’s and switch network’s requirements?

   In addition to the EMVCo Level 1 and Level 2 certifications for the devices, depending on the card associations in which you participate, several additional certifications may be required. However, unlike Level 1 and Level 2 testing, which is the responsibility of the vendor, completing the following certifications is the responsibility of the acquirer. Time and resources must be allocated for these certifications, and the right tools must be purchased to execute them.

   • Terminal application-level certification, known as:
     • Terminal Interface Process (TIP) for MasterCard
     • Acquirer Device Validation Testing (ADVT) for Visa
   • MasterCard acquirer functional certification
   • Visa acquirer functional certification
   • Other (national or regional) financial network/switch certifications
     In some countries, regional or national networks may require additional certifications; for example, Interac in Canada has its own Terminal Application Certification (TAC), functional (application level) certifications, and inter-member certifications that must be completed by each acquirer.

   For some institutions, the aggressiveness of their EMV implementation schedule may be largely determined by mandates from financial switches or card associations that require them to support certain transactions or card types by a specific date.

8. What testing is required to verify that our existing processing still works as expected?

   In addition to the EMV-specific mandated testing mentioned previously, your institution will undoubtedly have developers and QA testers create your own internal EMV test plan. While thoroughly testing your new EMV processing is important, your institution will also need to conduct regression testing to confirm that changes to support EMV did not result in unexpected issues with existing processing. In addition, you must conduct load testing or stress testing to ensure that your system is ready to handle any anticipated increase in transaction volumes. It is also advisable to review and test disaster recovery systems and procedures to determine if any modifications are needed in regard to your support of chip-enabled devices or chip cards.

   Be certain to include time in your schedule for acquiring chip cards to use during testing. If you are an acquirer only (and do not issue cards), you will likely obtain test cards from card associations in which you participate. However, testing network processing may be more challenging—even requiring you to make your own arrangements for test cards from an issuing institution. Remember that you will also need magnetic stripe cards for regression testing.

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