What can we learn from the history of #EMV?
by. Brandon Kuehl
History teaches us valuable lessons about past human behaviors, endeavors, triumphs and failures. As EMV continues to take hold in the U.S., it’s worthwhile to take a look at its global history.
Founding
EMV was developed in 1994 when Europay, MasterCard and Visa came together to found EMVCo. Its purpose was to develop a global chip specification for payment systems. EMV became the trademark of the newly formed entity’s technology standard.
At the time, many financial institutions (FIs) in Europe recognized the benefits of chip-based payments and understood that international standards for such payments were needed to help foster global interoperability. The original EMV specifications were created to fill that void. As the industry has evolved, additional specifications have been written to advance new payments initiatives.
Growth
MasterCard absorbed Europay in 2002. Japan Credit Bureau joined EMVCo in 2004, American Express in 2009 and, most recently, Discover and UnionPay in 2013.
