We have an EMV, Now What?

Promoting and Advancing Petroleum Marketing, Retail Grocery, and Convenience Stores in West Virginia

Driving Local Business and Community Growth Across West Virginia

Our Purpose and Commitment

OMEGA is a West Virginia-based organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the business interests of the state’s petroleum marketing, retail grocery, and convenience store industries.

As a network of over 225 locally owned businesses, OMEGA actively promotes cooperation, advocates for favorable legislation, and provides education and resources to its members. With over 50,000 employees, OMEGA members significantly contribute to the state’s economy, generating more than 10% of all state taxes and supporting local communities through scholarships, charitable donations, and civic involvement.

OMEGA is committed to fostering industry growth while serving West Virginians with essential services like fuel, food, and convenience.

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Your Essential Connection in West Virginia

OMEGA offers three types of membership: Convenience Store Members, Petroleum Marketer Members, and Grocer Members, all of which play a vital role in providing fuel, food, and essentials across West Virginia. As a liaison with state and national agencies, OMEGA works closely with organizations like NACS, PMAA, FMI, and the N.G.A. to advocate on behalf of its members.

We keep members informed through newsletters, legislative updates, an online resource hub, and educational seminars. Additional member benefits include access to the Encova Workers’ Compensation Discount Program and participation in our annual Trade Expo and fundraising efforts for children’s charities. OMEGA is here to support, advocate, and enhance the success of our industry members.

It is hard to believe, but October 2019 will mark four years since the card brand-imposed liability shift went into effect, requiring retailers to invest significant time, resources, and capital to accept “chip” cards in their stores. Now that we are mostly over the EMV hurdle, what’s next on the payment’s horizon?

<p>By: Hannah Walker, Senior Director, Nutrition & Technology Policy, Food Marketing Institute</p> <p><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/6643925479_2d160a4755_z.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=a690496e_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="Payments Technology" title="Payments Technology" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" />It is hard to believe, but October 2019 will mark four years since the card brand-imposed liability shift went into effect, requiring retailers to invest significant time, resources, and capital to accept “chip” cards in their stores. FMI witnessed and heard first hand from many of our members the challenges the arbitrary deadline created and the unnecessary expenses it cost their stores. The good news is, most of FMI members report being EMV compliant and are seeing some degree of reduced chargebacks for fraudulent cards being used in your stores. Now that we are mostly over the EMV hurdle, what’s next on the payment’s horizon? </p> <h4>The Eight-Legged Octopus of Challenges & Opportunities</h4> That is a question much easier asked than answered. In many ways, payments are an eight-legged octopus, with potential for innovation in security for both in-store and online shopping. There are opportunities to advance mobile payments and other technologies, all while looking for what will be the major disruptor that both consumers and retailers will be eager to adopt. <br /> <br /> <strong></strong> <h4>Online Security – Secure Remote Commerce</h4> On the online security side, the major card brands have been very active in promoting a solution commonly called Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) as a safe “one button” check out solution. While at first glance a single pay button may sound attractive and reduce the number of abandoned baskets, the devil is always in the details.  Many questions remain unanswered: will retailers still have options on which debit network they want to route a transaction through? What will be the cost to the retailer? What other things must a retailer give up or take on in order to utilize SRC? <br /> <br /> <h4>Contactless Credit and Debit Cards</h4> While we dig for answers on SRC, we also must remember most groceries are and will be sold in store. Some of the country’s largest banks have announced they will start issuing contactless credit and debit cards. These contactless cards use a near field communication (NFC) technology. NFC is only one contactless solution but is the one the major card brands favor. Even more interestingly the EMV readers retailers purchased and installed in their stores came with NFC capabilities included.  Again, while NFC may sound like an interesting solution that can use both enabled cards and technologies like ApplePay, it also comes with a cost. The major card brands assert that if you turn on NFC in your store you must accept anything using NFC. For instance, if a retailer wants to accept the NFC cards, but not ApplePay, the card brands say you must. NFC also comes with its own inherent challenges when a retailer tries to choose one debit network over another.<br /> <br /> <p>There is a great deal of exciting work being done resulting in positive developments in payments. I invite you to join us at the <a href="https://www.fmi.org/financial-executive-and-internal-audit-conference">Financial Executive and Internal Auditing Conference</a> in May as I have a one-on-one discussion with Kim Ford, head of global government affairs at First Data, to discuss what are the opportunities for true disruption in payments and how both the grocer and the customer benefit. <br /> <br /> <em><span style="font-size: 8px;">Photo Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennissylvesterhurd/" title="Go to Dennis Sylvester Hurd's photostream" data-track="attributionNameClick">Dennis Sylvester Hurd</a>, 2012</span></em></p>

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Supporting West Virginia Communities

OMEGA members play a vital role in West Virginia, supporting communities through substantial tax contributions and a wide-reaching presence across the state. With over 55% of the population living in border counties, our members are dedicated to serving both local and regional needs. Beyond business, we’re proud to give back, having contributed over $3.1 million to children’s charities since 2003, reflecting our commitment to making a positive difference.