CITGO Helps Its Marketers Navigate EMV Migration

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — CITGO Petroleum Corp. has implemented an initiative that helps its retailers and marketers upgrade to EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) technology at the point-of-sale (POS).

According to CITGO, it will underwrite a portion of the POS upgrades and provide incentives for those under its brand who convert to EMV-compatible technology. CITGO also volunteered to temporarily shoulder the financial burden of the liability shift for its marketers and retailers who want to upgrade their POS devices.

“CITGO retailers and marketers are under pressure to meet tight deadlines and navigate the financial and technological challenges these upgrades bring. As a partner to these businesses, our goal is to remove as many hurdles as possible and ensure their continued success,” Kara Gunderson, CITGO's POS manager and chair of the Data Security Committee for Conexxus, told guests attending the Atlantic Region Energy Expo in Atlantic City.

The EMV liability shift will occur on Oct. 1. After that date, convenience store retailers that do not upgrade their POS equipment face the possibility of being held financially responsible by credit card and debit card providers for fraudulent in-store transactions.

EMV, also known as chip-and-PIN or chip-and-signature technology, is intended to help prevent criminals from stealing customer credit card and debit card information, via the use of a chip. It is often combined with tokenization technology, a process that transmits otherwise useless numbers instead of real numbers linked to a customer's account.

"Customers are demanding more secure options for electronic payments,” said Jonathan Watson, CITGO's manager of business services and payment card. “And we must rise to meet their expectations and ensure consumer safety. While delays in the process have put most retailers behind schedule, by working together with CITGO marketers and retailers we can move toward 100-percent compliance as quickly and smoothly as possible.”

Houston-based CITGO is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels. The company is owned by CITGO Holding Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela SA, the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.