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Technology shifts in the payment processing industry are frequent and fuel big changes in how consumers shop and transact. There's no need to be afraid of change, but it can be disconcerting to business owners who just want to maintain their current customer base without payment processing interruptions. Here's a look at some of the major changes in the payment processing industry coming during this period of wide-scale change, how they affect your business, and how you can stay ahead.

Chip Cards, Liability Shifts and Data Breaches

Because of the rate of identity theft (up to 9 million Americans every year) there's understandably been a lot of focus on how to combat the effects and costs of this type of crime. Theft of financial data and identity, particularly stemming from card data breaches, is a big piece of that reality. And, as stolen card data is used fraudulently in the form of forged credit cards and the like, there's enormous systemic pressure on businesses, retailers, financial providers and consumers. One of the big changes to come to the U.S.? The implementation of chip card technology. Chip card technology and associated chip cards, called EMV, are designed to stop the acceptance of fraudulent cards at the point of sale. In addition, the microcomputer chips embedded within each card create unique identity indicators every time a transaction is made, which are designed to authenticate every transaction as valid when used in combination with a customer signature or pin. And, while chip cards help businesses and retailers stop fraud more efficiently, some components of the shift place burden back on merchants if they're not prepared for chip cards.

In the past, credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard have often shouldered the burden of fraudulent transactions, but as of October 1, 2015, liability for fraud at the point of sale is shifting in the direction of retailers and businesses unless they've upgraded their terminals to the EMV standard. The new chip cards are meant to make it more difficult for thieves to replicate and present for payment. It's a big enough change that the process of issuing new chip credit cards and upgrading business points-of-sale is still underway.

Faster, Safer, More Convenient Card Transactions

Payment processing technology advances aim to make everything easier on you and consumers. As time goes by, your core customers will come to expect speedier lines and faster, more secure payment processing. They may even expect some type of reward program for their repeat business. The payment processing industry moves to keep up with the technology of today as well as the demands of the business and consumer of tomorrow. A leader in the industry can walk you through how you can use these changes to your advantage to grow your business rather than hinder it.

The Future of Mobile Payments

Young people are big fans of here-and-now convenience and less so big fans of cash. They're also big fans of their mobile phones. The amount of mobile payments is already in the billions, and the stakes are too high to risk not being prepared for the increase in people requesting to pay via mobile wallets within their phones. Retailer acceptance is growing now—Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay—find their way. And, whether it's smart stand-alone POS terminalsor fully integrated POS systems, which often feature industry-specific integrations with other back-end software you use, thinking about what you need to empower early adopters and the consumers of tomorrow is a wise idea.

Are you ready for the changes in the payment processing industry; both present and future? See what you should know about the shifts in attitudes, policies and trends in the payment processing industry.

This article was provided by our partner, Worldpay.