EMV Chip and Pin
Owners and Franchisees in the United States,
Marriott International has been in the process of evaluating and developing a strategy for the Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) global standard, otherwise known as Chip and Pin. At this time, I’d like to discuss our status regarding EMV, which applies to cards equipped with computer chips as well as authentication technology for chip card transactions.
Marriott has led the industry with several initiatives to enhance systems and networks, including credit card encryption and tokenization of all credit cards within end-to-end systems. By standardizing systems and building strategic partnerships within our payment ecosystem, we are ensuring that we can sustain the highest degree of integrity required to maintain Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance each year.
EMV is a global standard for the credit card industry, ensuring interoperability of integrated circuit cards (“chip cards”) and chip-card-capable POS terminals and ATMs. Chip technology is a more secure means of payment processing than magnetic stripe cards, as it ensures that initial payment information isn’t compromised and counterfeit cards aren’t accepted. Marriott has assessed the risk for hotels in the United States with the liability shift that occurred related to EMV credit card processing and, as we’ve been developing our strategy, we have found through our research that the cost of implementation has significantly outweighed the liability risk associated with any potential credit card fraud.
Payment networks mandated that merchants become EMV-compliant by October 2015, and stated that a merchant would be liable for a fraudulent transaction if they were not EMV-compliant and a counterfeit credit card was accepted for payment. We understand concerns regarding fraud risk relative to not having EMV-enabled card readers in place. While the implementation timeline is still under review, the following steps can be taken to reduce risk of counterfeit card acceptance:
- Verify the guest’s identification. For more information on I.D. verification, click here.
- Do not hand over key(s) until authorization of the credit card on file is complete by checking the guest into the Property Management System. You may also verify the last 4 digits on the credit card.
- Be watchful of unusual amounts of money being charged to guest rooms (e.g., gift shop) and investigate if needed.
Marriott is not in a position to assume responsibility for fraudulent purchases at hotels. However, Managed by Marriott hotels will continue to focus on training and execution of security protocols, and we encourage franchisees to have their hotels take additional security measures as well in order to continue to minimize counterfeit fraud. Resources are available on MGS to assist franchisees with improving security in your hotel(s).
We are evaluating additional ways to assist with checking credit card validity, which include either performing a $0 authorization or using a fraud risk screening tool during the booking process. As we explore these options, we continue to work with Oracle (Opera and Simphony), Elavon, Merchant Link, Chase and card networks (i.e., Amex, Discover, and Chase for Visa & MasterCard) to create the most cost-effective solution relative to the EMV liability shift.
We would like to thank you for your continued support throughout this process. Please view our EMV FAQs if you have any further questions.
Warm regards,
Liam Brown
President, Select Service & Extended Stay Lodging and
Owner & Franchise Services, North America
