NEW YORK: American Express launched its Small Merchant EMV Assistance Program. It will help U.S. small merchants fight fraud through a $10 million reimbursement program designed to accelerate adoption of EMV payment terminals.
The drive will also arm small merchants with knowledge about EMV’s security benefits. As part of American Express’ program, eligible merchants that have upgraded to an EMV terminal can request a one-time $100 reimbursement from American Express by visiting www.americanexpress.com/fightfraud.* The Company will deliver educational resources about EMV to small merchants across the U.S. through email, a telephone hotline, and a website. A team of ambassadors – the American Express Fraud Squad – will also visit New York City, Atlanta, Miami and Houston, meeting face-to-face with small merchants to spread the word about EMV and its benefits.
Anré Williams, President, Global Merchant Services, American Express, said, “Fraud is a growing problem and the move to EMV is an important step towards stemming payment card fraud in the U.S. Unfortunately, many small merchants do not know about EMV or what they need to do to take advantage of it. We created the Small Merchant EMV Assistance Program to help them. By providing financial and educational assistance, we hope small merchants more quickly adopt EMV so they can ensure their customers feel safe when shopping at their stores.”
Fifty two percent of small merchants reported that they feel they are at higher risk for payment card fraud than larger businesses, with nearly half of those small merchants citing a lack of money to invest in fraud prevention or a lack of access to experts who can assist them as the biggest reasons why. Payment card fraud is a top concern among small merchants. According to the American Express EMV Preparedness Survey, conducted in October 2014, more than two-thirds (67%) of small merchants surveyed indicated that protection against and prevention of payment-card fraud was very important to running their businesses.
