Chip-Enabled Merchants Experience Fewer Chargebacks Leading Up to Busy Holiday Season

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Nov 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
With only six weeks until the holiday season, Canadian merchants would be
wise to get chipped. New findings compiled by Moneris Solutions, Canada's
largest payment processor, reveal that merchants who process chip card
transactions are experiencing fewer chargebacks than ever before due to
increased security and fraud detection. This is the first data of its
kind from Canada and demonstrates that chip cards reduce fraud and
chargebacks.

The data addresses the chargeback concerns of merchants especially during
the busy holiday season. The migration to chip cards provides peace of
mind to merchants and consumers alike who have all been highly
inconvenienced in the past by credit card fraud.

"Not only does the data illustrate the importance of chip cards to
merchants but it shows their tremendous value to everyone along the
payment value chain, including cardholders," said Santo Ligotti,
Director, Marketing and Communications at Moneris Solutions. "As we head
into the hectic holiday season, we expect to see a major migration to
chip technology. Early adopters understand how chip card processing can
significantly reduce chargebacks and enable more secure transactions."

Chip technology provides merchants and cardholders with increased
protection against fraudulent transactions, which should result in fewer
chargebacks for fraud. According to the findings, merchants who processed
greater than 40 per cent of total transactions using chip technology
experience on average, up to four times fewer chargebacks than those who
processed less than 40 per cent of total transactions using chip
technology. Retailers reported 2.9 times fewer chargebacks while
restaurants reported 1.8 times fewer chargebacks, making a solid case for
chip card acceptance using pay-at-table technology. The data revealed
that one-third of overall transaction volume is currently processed using
chip cards.

"This compelling data proves the effectiveness of chip cards and
substantiates the introduction of chip cards into the Canadian
marketplace," said Mr. Ligotti. "Clearly, the financial investment made
by merchants and processors is paying off."

Moneris Solutions compiled the findings after examining the data of
21,000 merchants with 40 to 95 per cent of total transactions processed
using chip technology in September 2009 and their recent chargeback
activity. Gasoline merchants were excluded from the survey as they
traditionally experience a consistently low number of chargebacks.

Preventing fraud is the main driver behind chip migration in Canada. In
2006, counterfeit fraud in Canada on debit and credit totalled almost
$250 million and has been growing at almost 25% annually. In response,
Europay MasterCard and VISA created a standard called EMV, developed by,
adopted by card issuers for chip-based debit and credit cards. In a chip
card (also known as a smart card), a small microchip is embedded on the
front of the payment card to securely store payment application
information such as the cardholder's account number. Chip cards and chip
terminals work together to ensure a highly secure transaction by
validating the card and the cardholder via a personal identification
number (PIN). The computer chip makes cards more difficult to copy,
reducing counterfeit fraud.

Card brands have all committed to migrating to chip-based credit cards by
late 2010. The majority of point-of-sale terminals and credit and debit
cards are expected to be chip- and PIN-enabled by the same time. There
are more than 440 million chip cards and 6.3 million chip-capable
terminals deployed worldwide.

About Moneris Solutions

As one of North America's largest providers of payment processing
solutions, Moneris offers credit, debit, wireless and online payment
services for merchants in virtually every industry segment and processes
more than three billion transactions annually. Through its Ernex
division, Moneris offers electronic loyalty and stored-value gift card
programs. With more than 350,000 merchant locations, Moneris provides the
hardware, software and systems needed to improve business efficiency and
manage payments. For more information please visit www.moneris.com.

(R) Moneris, Moneris Solutions and the Moneris Solutions design are
registered trademarks of Moneris Solutions Corporation.

Contacts:
Media Contact:
MAVERICK Public Relations Inc.
Daniel Weinerman
416-640-5525, ext. 245
danielw@maverickpr.com

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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