Petroleum Industry: EMV FAQ

Publication Date: September 2017

Like most brick and mortar retailers, the petroleum industry has been busy preparing for the acceptance of EMV payment cards. Developing, testing, and deploying software for petroleum-specific point-of-sale (POS) systems is complex and a long process. The introduction of EMV cards impact several components related to retail petroleum payment processing, including POS, payment servers, indoor payment terminals, forecourt controllers, fuel dispensers, and the special purpose acquirer systems that handle petroleum-specific payment types. The nature of these payment components creates inherently more complex development, testing, and certification efforts for petroleum retailers. Because of this complexity, it was necessary for the petroleum industry to await the completed credit and debit specifications before finalizing their development and programming.

The U.S. Payments Forum Petroleum Working Committee developed this frequently asked questions (FAQ) document to provide a common, consistent understanding of EMV issues in the U.S. retail petroleum industry. The target audience includes retailers, technology vendors, payment networks, acquirers, and other stakeholders involved in the processing of payments from retail petroleum sites.

About the U.S. Payments Forum Petroleum Working Committee

The Petroleum Working Committee was established for all interested parties to work collaboratively to identify, review and resolve challenges associated with implementation of EMV within the U.S. petroleum and convenience market.  The Petroleum Working Committee includes payment networks, petroleum and convenience merchants, petroleum-specific acquirers, petroleum and convenience POS vendors and fuel dispenser manufacturers, and other organizations servicing the petroleum and convenience category.


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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