Payments NZ is reminding merchants to check the age of their EFTPOS terminals as an important deadline for upgrading older models approaches.
Any devices running on the PCI 3.x standard will no longer be compliant after 30 June 2024, leading to their disconnection from Aotearoa New Zealand’s payment network.
Payments NZ chief executive Steve Wiggins said hardware is phased out as more modern and secure technology becomes available.
“The payments industry works hard to ensure New Zealanders’ sensitive card data is protected from financial crime,” said Wiggins.
Wiggins said ensuring EFTPOS devices are operating with the latest standards helps keep the risk of card fraud low.
“It’s encouraging to hear from banks and terminal vendors who have been directly communicating the changes to merchants that the vast majority have replaced the older devices already,” said Wiggins.
“However, there may still be some merchants that are yet to make these important upgrades. There are just over two months to go until the older 3.x models become redundant. From the end of June, this hardware will be switched off and unable to be used to process transactions. We strongly advise any merchants still using 3.x terminals, or who are unsure, to speak with their terminal provider as soon as possible.”
Wiggins added that the sunset date has been extended twice due to equipment supply chain challenges that arose because of Covid-19.
“I’d like to acknowledge merchants that proactively upgraded their devices with a view to meeting the earlier dates. The hardware used to process card transactions in Aotearoa New Zealand is very secure thanks to the device lifecycles we have in place, and we’re thankful to all organisations that play a part in maintaining that high standard.”
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