With the move to EMV chip-based payments accelerating in the United States, the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council has released an updated educational white paper, "Card Payments Roadmap in the United States: How Will EMV Impact the Future Payments Infrastructure?"

The white paper contains new information for 2012 and, for the first time, incorporates important details and recommended implementation guidelines from American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa into a single document.

White paper topics include:

• An overview of the EMV specifications and key implementation options for issuers, acquirers/processors, merchants and ATM operators
• A discussion of the relationship between U.S. contactless bank card transactions and EMV and the relationship between the Near Field Communications (NFC) specifications and EMV
• Actions stakeholders need to take to issue EMV cards, and to accept and process EMV transactions

"Now that all of the major payment brands have announced their plans and milestones, we are anticipating fairly rapid deployment of EMV in the U.S., harmonized with contactless and NFC payments acceptance," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "Through this white paper containing all of the latest information and guidance, the Payments Council is providing guidance about the roadmap for EMV migration to make this important shift in the United States as seamless and successful as possible."

The white paper supplements other educational initiatives by Smart Card Alliance for EMV chip migration in the U .S. Last summer, the Alliance launched EMVConnection.com, which provides up-to-date information on the status of EMV migration, as well as tutorials and educational resources to assist with migration.

The Alliance has also formed an independent, cross-industry organization, the EMV Migration Forum, which supports the alignment of EMV implementation steps required for global payment networks, regional payment networks, issuers, acquirers/processors, merchants, and consumers in the U.S.

For more on this topic, visit the EMV research center.