Through NRS’ gas station division, NRS Petro, our team is offering money and time saving solutions for gas station owners who need to update their pumps before the deadline.
Major credit card companies plan to hold gas stations liable for fraudulent purchases, chargebacks and other counterfeit transactions if they have not converted to accept chip card payments at each pump and payment point. This is being enforced by an EMV deadline which is expected to be implemented in April of 2021.
For those who may be unaware, EMV refers to Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, which is the standard technology used for payments completed by credit, debit, and EMV smart cards. In short, if a gas station does not accept EMV by the April 2021 deadline, then independent gas station owners will be subject to paying for fraudulent purchases made at their gas station. This means that if someone stole a credit card and used it to pay at a gas station, then that gas station owner is responsible for that amount spent if their station is not compliant to the EMV standard. Previously, banks would have been responsible for this charge.
What this all shows is that there are ever changing rules and regulations that store owners, entrepreneurs, and small business owners must be aware of. No one wants to become unexpectedly caught in a legal battle over an ordinance that they were either unaware of or did not foresee as an issue. That’s why I always implore clients, ranging from convenience store to gas station owners, to always be aware of legal regulations and to know your options.
As CEO of National Retail Solutions (NRS), a leading point-of-sale platform for independent convenience store, gas stations, grocery, liquor and tobacco stores nationwide, I have been following the EMV update very closely and monitoring what it means for independent gas station owners. At the very minimum, we are doing all we can to make sure independent store owners across the nation are aware of this update and help make sure it doesn’t catch anyone by surprise.
Independent gas station owners are currently faced with three options to address the EMV Standard:
- Remove and install new gas pumps
- Ignore the EMV standard and stand liable to fraudulent purchases, or
- Which is what we believe is best, retrofit gas pumps with EMV standard systems.
Through NRS’ gas station division, NRS Petro, our team is offering money and time saving solutions for gas station owners who need to update their pumps before the deadline. The NRS EMV EZ Pump Solution offers gas station operators nationwide an affordable and easy to install way to retrofit a payment processing solution that accepts EMV payments and complies with EMV standards.
The alternatives to the NRS EMV EZ Pump Solution are often more expensive and may entail substantially more disruption to station operations during installation. New EMV-compliant gas pumps can cost $20,000 or more plus installation and associated downtime. Retrofit kits offered by gas pump manufactures can cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more per pump. With a simple retrofit, gas station owners can accept EMV payments at their existing pumps and meet the April 2021 liability deadline.
About National Retail Solutions (NRS)
National Retail Solutions, Inc. (NRS), a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) offers a point-of-sale (POS) platform for independent c-stores, gas stations, grocery, liquor and tobacco stores nationwide. The NRS platform provides robust hardware with powerful merchant software to help retailers compete more effectively, organize their business, attract customers and increase revenue. NRS’ credit card processing service, NRS PAY, offers processing that integrates seamlessly with the NRS point of sale system or that can be used independently. For more information, visit nrsplus.com.
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