As of April 30, 2020 the Verifone VX520 is considered end of life in the credit card processing world. It’s hard to believe that this machine, once considered the tank of the industry, will be obsolete in a few short months. I remember when these machines first came out, well before the EMV mandate in 2015.
Verifone was way ahead of the industry and created these machines to process the EMV chips that would be inserted into credit cards. All merchants in the USA were required to accept EMV cards by October, 2015. When we first started introducing these machines to business owners most had never even heard of the EMV mandate.
I’m not exactly sure what happened to Verifone along the way. I do know that the VX520 machines had a certificate problem in 2019 and thousands of terminals stopped working because they were in a reboot loop. Talk about tech support overload. It was an absolute nightmare for merchants and providers as well.
I Am Using a VX520 – What Does This Mean?
Don’t worry, as of September, 2020 your machine will still continue to work (for a while). The end of life means that Verifone will no longer be issuing updates for the software that runs the machine. It also means that Verifone will not be renewing PCI certification, the industry standard for credit card security.
When cardholder data is transmitted it must be encrypted and meet industry standards for security. Failing to do this could place a business in the PCI Non Compliant category resulting in additional fees from your processor and potential data breach.
What Should I Do?
I would suggest that you contact your merchant service company (or us) and ask them what they plan to do. We will be providing a FREE replacement machine to any of our clients who currently use a VX520 credit card machine and to all new accounts.
DO NOT lease a credit card machine. If you must purchase a machine, a basic counter top model should cost less than $400.00 and will be closer to $200.00 for a basic model. If you have already leased a machine I’m afraid that you may be stuck with the payment for the remainder of the lease term.
The world of credit card processing for small business is constantly changing. If you’re one of our existing clients then we have you covered. If not, then consider contacting us today to see the difference that personalized local support. Diversified Payments has an A+ BBB rating and offers free equipment, cancellation fee reimbursement and the ability to eliminate credit processing fees altogether. Visit Diversified Payments website here.