As EMV Deadline Looms, Expert Issues Warning to SMBs
A recent study from Software Advice, a comparison site for POS systems, reveals over one third, 33 percent, of SMBs claim compliance is too expensive but an industry watcher says non-compliance will prove even more detrimental and costly for the small retailers that haven't adopted the new payment technology.
"Small businesses need to be aware that they may be held responsible for in-store fraud 
if they have not adopted the necessary chip technology in our not-too-far future. Likewise, banks will be held responsible if they have not the made necessary adjustments for this upcoming change, either," wrote Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle, in a Forbes column.
Leinbach-Reyhle quotes one retail banking consultant as describing the potential failure to comply as "potentially devastating."
"This is especially true if they [SMBs] are running on tight margins to begin with. Once the liability shift occurs, if the proprietor accepts a fraudulent charge via swipe, they will be held liable for that charge if the terminal is not EMV compliant. The shift moves the liability from the issuing bank to the merchant, so the consequences are more of the roulette variety -- they could be devastating or they could be a non-event," Ranta told Leinbach-Reyhle, who is the author of " Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business."
The first action step for SMBs that haven't done anything toward compliance is to get in touch with point-of-sales (POS) provider and reviewing options for upgrade and issues regarding liability, advised Leinbach-Reyhle.
"Make it your priority to get prepared and make the switch to avoid expenses and possibly fraud later," she wrote, adding the "timing of EMV and the holidays collide way too closely... making it all that more important to make changes now to avoid expenses, possible fraud and time during one of the busiest spending seasons of year."