Discover announced it is implementing a 2013 EMV mandate for acquirers and direct-connect merchants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This industry alignment will streamline certification and deployment efforts and enable a manageable transition for all parties involved, including issuers, merchants and acquirers.

To date, Discover has prioritized its global EMV-deployment efforts towards markets which have mandated or have significant chip-card technology presence already.

Discover has deployed D-PAS, the company’s EMV-compliant payment specification, for the past three years and already has more than 1 million cards in market among international issuers. Deployment efforts continue in 2012, with close to 100 issuing and acquiring deployments slated across the Diners Club, PULSE and Discover card networks.

Discover’s approach to EMV will not restrict any channel, verification process or transaction type. Discover will support:

• All card authentication channels – including online and offline
• All cardholder verification methods – including both chip & PIN or chip & signature transactions
• All commerce channels – including contact and contactless (which includes mobile)

Discover’s EMV deployment efforts are already underway domestically. In January 2012, Discover processed its first U.S. EMV card transactions at enabled Walmart locations. Walmart is certified to process D-PAS in both the U.S. and Canada.