Discover has acquired a one-sixth share of EMVCo from the respective holdings of its current member-owners American Express, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay and Visa. It will therefore have an equal interest in the standards body, actively contributing to the management, technical work and operations of EMVCo.
“Discover becoming an equity member of EMVCo further underlines the importance of the EMV standard for the global payments industry,” explains Dave Meadon, current EMVCo Executive Committee Chair. “The existing members of EMVCo value the additional resources and contributions that new members provide as we address the broad and diverse needs of the international payments community. As an established end-user of the EMV Specifications, we welcome the industry knowledge and extensive chip card experience that Discover will bring to EMVCo’s work programme.”
A key area of interest for Discover is the rapid growth and expansion of new payment methods and how these are being supported by EMVCo. Beth Horowitz, Senior Vice President, Discover Network, adds: “Discover is committed to achieving a global, ubiquitous payments landscape that is based on universally defined industry specifications and standards. This is particularly important as innovative transaction solutions are introduced such as contactless and mobile chip-based payments. We look forward to adding our expertise to these discussions and contributing to the global specification development efforts of EMVCo.”
Discover is the second new member to join EMVCo in 2013. In May, the standards body announced that UnionPay had become its fifth owner-member. Christina Hulka, current EMVCo Board of Managers Chair, concludes: “EMVCo is keen to engage with the payments community to ensure the continued evolution of its standards as the payments industry advances, rapidly offering new and exciting innovations. As part of this drive, EMVCo has established an Associates Programme, which encourages all payment stakeholders – including payment card issuers, acquirers, merchants, processors, card and terminal vendors, networks and their representative associations – to provide input into the advancement of existing and new EMV Specifications. We advise all interested parties to get involved in this programme, join our technical discussions and shape the future of their payments landscape.”
