EMV Parameters and EMV Keys Rotation

Many credit card processing companies and other businesses which maintain their own payment processing ecosystems make the common mistake and think that EMV certification process consists only from host certification and terminal certification. But you need to know that EMV processing functionality also includes the following significant components: EMV parameters handling and EMV application keys.

Handling of EMV parameters and EMV keys rotation is extremely important for payment processing companies which deal with several acquirers. EMV parameters and EMV keys help to organize the information exchange between the chip of the payment card and the EMV kernel of the payment terminal.

Traditionally a configuration file is stored in the terminal. It contains the list of application IDs, respective parameters and keys for them. This file is used by the EMV kernel for its operation. It should also be mentioned that there is hardly a possibility that you will have to modify the EMV parameters. But EMV keys should be changed regularly that’s why you will need some time to implement the EMV rotation logic so it is better to add this task into your list from the very beginning. EMV keys rotation can be either embedded into the terminal management system or it can be the functionality offered by a payment gateway. Consider UniPay Payment Management Platform to understand better how EMV payment gateway works (visit the site).

Additional information on this issue is shared in the article at #Paylosophy (go to the blog).