Starting October 1, 2015, all businesses, regardless of size, will be required to have systems in place to accept credit cards equipped with EMV (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa) smart chip technology. EMV cards offer increased safety and convenience for users. Cards with EMV smart chip technology contain a cryptogram, making it extremely difficult for others to copy or use cards fraudulently.

The new requirements put pressure on business owners to get up to speed with the technology. A recent Intuit survey found that over half of business owners with fewer than five employees have heard of EMV cards.

Why are businesses adopting this technology? 

EMV smart chip technology provides greater protection to consumers rightfully concerned about the security of their data. Credit and debit cards with the chips are far less likely to be compromised than cards with the traditional magnetic strip.

How do I make the switch to EMV smart chip cards?

If you accept debit and credit card payments, contact your point of sale system provider for more information. If you want to know more about the EMV chip technology from the standpoint of a payment card user, contact your bank or credit card company. You can also get additional details on the topic in this SCORE.org blog post.

WATCH: How to use an EMV smart chip card

What happens if my business isn’t ready to accept EMV cards?

You (rather than the cardholder or credit card company) might be held responsible for the cost of any unauthorized purchases made via your point of sale system.

According to the Payment Security Taskforce, more than 575 million U.S. cards will feature EMV chips by the end of 2015, so you can expect that many of your customers will be using them. If you don’t want to be on the hook for fraudulent transactions made at your point of sale, you’ll want to explore what you need to do to upgrade your equipment and software so you can process purchases as EMV chip transactions.