Business-friendly. Cost-effective. Logical.

MasterCard has a customer-friendly and business-like approach to introducing chip.

We are working with the institutions which provide cards to consumers and businesses (issuers), processors of card payments, and merchants to minimize the costs and complications of switching to chip.

We're working with issuers to introduce chip cards on a gradual basis in co-ordination with their normal card replacement calendars and processes.

We're working with processors, merchants, retail associations, and point-of-sale and software vendors to make merchants chip-ready in conjunction with their regular equipment and system upgrades.

MasterCard does not require that issuers or merchants shift to chip by a set date. Our approach is to partner with industry participants to create a logical, cost effective and business-friendly transition plan. Our plan will result in a majority of MasterCard chip cards in market by 2010.

To talk to us about managing the transition to chip, contact William Giles, Vice President, Emerging Technology, MasterCard.

The MasterCard Chip Solution

MasterCard M/Chip™ payment application combines the functions of ATM, credit, debit, and Cirrus on one payment card, giving merchants, acquirers, and issuers everything they need to migrate to and manage chip-based programs.

M/Chip is at the core of MasterCard's smart card strategy and represents the latest generation of EMV payment applications. When customer financial institutions adopt M/Chip, they benefit from instant access to an assortment of added-value applications and support services that strengthen the business case for migrating to chip.

In addition to M/Chip, MasterCard offers a suite of added-value applications called MasterCard OneSmart.

OneSmart enables issuers to improve customer acquisitions, customer retention, card activation and usage by making available to MasterCard issuers a suite of innovative chip applications. OneSmart includes applications such as OneSmart Pre-Authorized, OneSmart Authentication, OneSmart Retail as well as the new and innovative OneSmart PayPass™ and OneSmart Transit, which combine both contact and contactless interfaces on one chip.

The Global Chip Leader

MasterCard has extensive global experience in the planning and implementation of chip programs. The MasterCard Chip Centre of Excellence, based in Brussels, Belgium, is the fulcrum of a global network of expertise and experience. MasterCard can help organizations identify the business opportunities in chip and plot a business strategy to integrate chip.

Globally, MasterCard leads in the implementation of chip cards worldwide, with more than 260 million chip cards in active use (as of 2006), significantly more than any other payments organization. This experience is now being applied in the Canadian market to ensure the payments industry is in the right position to capture the benefits of chip technology.

In 2005, there were more than 1,500 completed and active MasterCard chip projects globally, representing an 80% growth from the previous year.

Demystifying Chip: Your Guide from the World Leader

The Fundamentals of EMV Chip

Chip in Canada

The Global Landscape

To talk to us about getting ready to accept chip transactions, contact our Acceptance Team