With At-Pump EMV a Work in Progress, Providers Look to Mask Card Transactions With Encryption

The switchover of gasoline stations in the United States to the EMV chip card standard has been a work in progress, but now products are emerging that can secure card data at the pump through a technology known as point-to-point encryption.

Payments provider ACI Worldwide Inc. early Tuesday said it working with Dover Fueling Solutions on a P2PE product that will mask credit and debit card data at the pump. The effort is aimed at cutting the risk gas stations bear for data breaches that could include card numbers, expiration dates, and other information useful to fraudsters.

The two companies say the new product encrypts card data “immediately at the point of interaction,” and keeps it encrypted until it reaches the payment processor. In this way, the service is meant to offer protection from various technologies employed by fraudsters, including card skimmers, network sniffers, and malware that could be deployed on either internal or external networks.

“Merchants with fuel dispensers are looking for a solution that allows them to innovate and create unique customer journeys at the forecourt, while keeping sensitive cardholder data safe via a P2PE solution,” said Debbie Guerra, head of merchant at ACI Worldwide, in a statement. “Our strategic relationship and the new P2PE integration we are bringing with Dover Fueling Solutions delivers a secure, agnostic payment solution that addresses these needs along with the EMV liability shift.”

Austin, Texas-based DFS is a unit of Dover Corp. and includes Wayne Fueling Systems, OPW Fuel Management Systems, Tokheim, and other brands.

The P2PE offering arrives as gas stations in the U.S. market have struggled to comply with the card networks’ EMV chip card standard at the pump. The new solution, however, is intended for stations with compliant pumps as well as those that aren’t yet upgraded for EMV, according to an ACI spokesman.

The networks delayed the deadline for EMV compliance at fuel dispensers before finally making it effective in April. At that point, some 48% of fuel and convenience-store retailers had complied with the EMV mandate at the pump, according to a survey ACI conducted at the time among sellers representing 45,000 gas stations across the country. ACI hasn’t updated the results, “but we know the rate is going up,” says the spokesman.

Under network rules, merchants not in compliance with the EMV mandate bear the risk of loss on fraudulent transactions.