EMV Testing and Certification White Paper: Current Global Payment Network Requirements for the U.S. Acquiring Community

Publication Date: September 2023

As the U.S. migration to EMV chip technology continues, many merchants and acquirers have questions about requirements for testing and certifying contact and contactless chip-enabled terminals. The revised version of the U.S. Payments Forum Testing and Certification Working Committee white paper, “EMV Testing and Certification White Paper: Current Global Payment Network Requirements for the U.S. Acquiring Community,” provides the most up-to-date requirements and processes from the global payment networks, includes testing and certification requirements for Quick Chip and M/Chip Fast implementations and includes information on contactless EMV certification and testing processes.

The updated white paper defines the current processes required to test EMV chip transactions with American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa and provides use cases that identify when testing or retesting is required for EMV chip and contactless terminals, when retesting is recommended as a best practice, and when only standard internal testing is advised. Use cases are included for:

  • ATMs
  • Terminals, including semi-integrated and standalone
  • Acquirer processor platforms
  • Value-added resellers (VARs)
  • Gateways
  • Unattended and automated fuel dispensers

Updates to this white paper reflect current requirements for the EMVCo L3 testing framework; this white paper was last published in December 2017 prior to the framework being in place.


Please note: The information and materials available on this web page (“Information”) is provided solely for convenience and does not constitute legal or technical advice. All representations or warranties, express or implied, are expressly disclaimed, including without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose and all warranties regarding accuracy, completeness, adequacy, results, title and non-infringement. All Information is limited to the scenarios, stakeholders and other matters specified, and should be considered in light of applicable laws, regulations, industry rules and requirements, facts, circumstances and other relevant factors. None of the Information should be interpreted or construed to require or promote the establishment of any solution, practice, configuration, rule, requirement or specification inconsistent with applicable legal requirements, any of which requirements may change over time. The U.S. Payments Forum assumes no responsibility to support, maintain or update the Information, regardless of any such change. Use of or reliance on the Information is at the user’s sole risk, and users are strongly encouraged to consult with their respective payment networks, acquirers, processors, vendors and appropriately qualified technical and legal experts prior to all implementation decisions.

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