Wix Payments: About the 'Liability Shift'

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.