Wix Payments: About the 'Liability Shift'
1 min
The 'liability shift' is a term used to describe a change in how banks and processing networks handle some types of credit card fraud. This refers to payments made in person (card present), where the card is read by a card reader.
From 2015, businesses that aren’t set up to accept chip cards can now be held financially liable for certain types of fraudulent payments, where a chargeback is filed against the merchant.
Having up-to-date card reading technology - such as Wix POS - is key to avoiding liability for these types of fraud. Generally speaking, the party supporting the most secure technology for each fraud type will prevail in a chargeback dispute. In the case of a technology tie, the fraud liability remains with the issuer.
As a merchant accepting in-person payments, we recommend you verify a customer's payment using a card's EMV chip whenever possible. Having an up-to-date card reader will allow you to insert or tap the chip. You should use the magnetic strip (swipe) only if there is no EMV chip on your customer's card.
Learn more about best practices for accepting card payments.
