Payments NZ has reiterated its plea for merchants to be aware of EFTPOS changes ahead of hardware and software upgrades in September.
Final reminders have been issued to the small number of merchants still using obsolete EFTPOS terminals that they need to upgrade their hardware by the end of September.
From 1 October, any EFTPOS terminals running the PCI 3.x standard will no longer be compliant and will be subject to disconnection from New Zealand’s payment network.
Payments NZ clearing systems general manager Jamie Wood said the older terminals have been phased out as newer and more secure technology has come to market.
“We keep the risk of card fraud low by ensuring the EFTPOS payment network is operating to the latest security standards. This keeps New Zealanders and their data safe,” said Wood.
“The plan to phase out this older technology has been developed over a number of years and the vast majority of merchants have already upgraded their terminals.”
Wood said the Payments NZ Board had already offered an extra three-month extension ending 30 September to enable remaining merchants to replace their devices.
“A year ago, we still had around 50,000 of these older terminals still being used in shops, cafes and other businesses that take card payments,” he added.
“Although numbers have fallen significantly and continue to drop by the day, we still have several thousand merchants who need to take action now to ensure they can continue serving their customers from the start of next month.”
From the 1st of October, any remaining PCI 3.x terminals will be subject to disconnection from the payments network.
“It will likely take several days to obtain new hardware and get reconnected to the network. We really want to avoid that sort of disruption to businesses and their customers,” said Wood.
“Terminal vendors and resellers have been talking to merchants about the need to upgrade and so have the banks that provide merchant bank accounts. It’s really important merchants who have waited to take action do so now because time is running out.
Wood expressed his thanks to all the merchants, terminal vendors, and resellers for their efforts to upgrade EFTPOS terminals across the country and help maintain the security standard of hardware used to process card transactions in New Zealand.
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