KEY POINTS:
Many New Zealand retailers and merchants are dragging their feet upgrading Eftpos terminals which could leave them vulnerable to international fraudsters and liable for any losses.
Merchants have until January 1 to upgrade their terminals to a required standard of EMV compliance.
If they are not compliant by then, they will be liable for fraud losses.
Andre Van Duiven, general manager at payments technology firm Provenco, said of 95,000 merchants connected to the ETSL payments switch, the larger of the two switches New Zealand's Eftpos terminals connect to, 41,5000 had changed to EMV.
That left "a reasonable chunk" yet to make the move. "In many cases that's just a software upgrade but in some cases it's a new terminal that needs to be deployed," he said.
"From our perspective, the issue's almost getting to the stage where I don't know if the industry's got enough capacity to actually deliver all the terminals and changes that need to go out by that date."
According to Mastercard New Zealand's Stewart McKinlay, the longer merchants put off the changeover, the more chance they will be targeted by international fraudsters.
"Essentially New Zealand needs to keep pace with what's happening."
John Albertson of the Retailers' Association said New Zealand retailers were "probably lagging a little bit behind at the moment".
However with most terminals leased, the changeover to EMV was not a major cost issue.
