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EMV Connection – where all EMV stakeholders can find timely information about the U.S. migration from magnetic stripe to EMV chip-enabled payments

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  • EMV Connection – where all EMV stakeholders can find timely information about the U.S. migration from magnetic stripe to EMV chip-enabled payments
EMV Connection – where all EMV stakeholders can find timely information about the U.S. migration from magnetic stripe to EMV chip-enabled payments

By Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director, Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance has created the EMV Connection website as a service to the payments industry. The site provides up-to-date information on the status of EMV migration, along with tutorials and educational resources that will assist with gaining a better understanding of the changes that this migration from magnetic stripe cards to cards and devices that also include EMV chip technology will bring. EMV technology provides added security and new payments options and features for merchants and consumers.

Many of you are familiar with the Smart Card Alliance organization and know about the work that the organization does to provide valuable educational resources — white papers, workshops, conferences, web seminars, slide shows, and online audio and video recordings by industry experts.  As an organization that serves the needs of many different markets who have adopted smart card technology, our goal for establishing the EMV Connection website was to gather all of the smart card-related information that was relevant to the payments industry, give it a unique look and feel and provide an easy-to-use resource that can be refreshed and updated with new information on a regular basis.

The EMV Connection site is designed so that all major EMV stakeholders – issuers, merchants, payment processors/acquirers and consumers – can easily find valuable information that will best help them travel their own unique EMV migration path. :

  • Issuers can get a head-start with EMV migration with tutorials and implementation guidance about EMV cards that take advantage of global best practices
  • Merchants can learn from industry experts about the impact that EMV will have on the point-of-sale environment and key strategies for managing EMV chip data in their retail operations
  • Acquirers and processors can plan their EMV migration to meet the April 2013 requirement to handle full EMV chip data in transactions
  • Consumers can learn about how EMV helps to reduce fraud and protect payment transactions and how contact and contactless EMV cards will be used in retail environments

We have included an industry news feed so that breaking news and press announcements can be aggregated in one location.  We have included this industry blog feature so that interested parties can post questions and start discussions on specific topics that they find important to them.  The site also includes EMV resource links to provide convenient ways to find other payments industry resources and payments organization websites, so that visitors including the media can get the information they need quickly and from qualified, reliable sources.

On behalf of the entire Smart Card Alliance organization, we invite you to visit the EMV Connection  website often and use the information you find to help define your own path forward towards EMV payments in the United States.

Sincerely,

Randy Vanderhoof

Executive Director

Smart Card Alliance

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About the U.S. Payments Forum

The U.S. Payments Forum is a cross-industry body focused on addressing issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across many constituents in the payments industry. The Forum is an affiliated organization of the Secure Technology Alliance, founded in August 2012 as the EMV Migration Forum, and renamed in the U.S. Payments Forum in 2016 to include other new and emerging payments technologies in the United States.

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Members of the media interested in learning about and accurately reporting on current and emerging payments technologies in the U.S., such as EMV, tokenization, encryption, and mobile and contactless payments, should visit our Media Resources page.

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Session 4: Tuesday, August 12th at 9am PT

Crypto & Stablecoins: Unpacking the Future of Digital Value in Payments

Wrap up the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series with a timely deep dive into one of the most talked-about trends in the financial world: cryptocurrency and stablecoins.

In this final, member-exclusive session, industry experts will demystify the fundamentals of these digital assets and explore their potential impact on the payments ecosystem. From definitions and use cases to regulatory considerations and real-world adoption, this conversation will provide clarity on where crypto fits—and where it’s headed—in mainstream commerce.

If you’re curious about how digital currencies may reshape transactions, settlement, and consumer expectations, this session is your chance to get informed and stay ahead.

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Session 1: Tuesday, June 24th at 9am PT Agentic Payments

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Kick off the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series with a forward-looking conversation on agentic payments—a transformative approach where devices, apps, or digital assistants initiate and complete transactions on behalf of users.

In this member-exclusive session, Visa and Mastercard will share insights into their agentic payment strategies and real-world applications, exploring how AI-driven automation is reshaping customer experiences and the broader payments ecosystem. Joining the conversation is Firmly, a company building the agentic commerce infrastructure powering frictionless AI-native checkout across digital channels.

Moderated by Andrew Gordon from Discover, this discussion will unpack the opportunities, considerations, and future outlook for autonomous commerce.

Moderator: Andrew Gordon, Discover

Panelists: Sukh Dev, Mastercard; Reed Bouchelle, Visa; Kumar Senthil, Firmly

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Session 2: Tuesday, July 8th at 9am PT

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Join us for the second installment of the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series, where industry experts from SHAZAM and Mastercard, will break down the complexities of tokenization—a foundational technology for securing modern payment ecosystems.

This members-only session will cover the critical role tokenization plays in reducing fraud, protecting data, and enabling secure digital commerce. Attendees will gain clarity on the different types of tokens—network, acquirer, and card-on-file—and learn when issuer involvement is required, when it isn’t, and why that distinction matters.

Whether you’re building, managing, or modernizing payment systems, this session will equip you with the knowledge needed to navigate tokenization with confidence.

Panelists: Manish Nathwani, SHAZAM; Sukh Dev, Mastercard

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Session 3: Tuesday, July 29th at 9am PT – 90 minutes

Merchant and Issuer Special Interest Group (SIG)

Join industry leaders Joe Vasterling (Best Buy) and Sara Walsh (Bank of America) for the third session of the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series—a collaborative conversation between merchants and issuers focused on solving shared challenges and accelerating innovation. This member-exclusive session offers a neutral space to explore evolving regulations, customer experience expectations, and the adoption of new payment technologies. Whether you’re working to optimize transaction flows, enhance security, or better align ecosystem priorities, this session is your chance to engage directly with peers, exchange insights, and help shape the future of payments.

Led by: Joe Vasterling, Best Buy; Sara Walsh, Bank of America

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