FIS, NYCE Enter EMV Debit Routing Agreement with MasterCard

FIS' NYCE payments network has reached an agreement with MasterCard to use the card brand's technology for routing EMV debit payments.

FIS and NYCE reached a similar agreement with Visa in April. The agreement with MasterCard enables all NYCE network participants to use MasterCard's EMV debit solution.

"This is a further step in our commitment to improving U.S. transaction security through EMV migration," says Carolyn Balfany, group head of U.S. product delivery at MasterCard, in a June 4 press release. "By reducing the complexity of EMV implementation, it accelerates the changeover and moves the industry closer to greater debit security."

MasterCard has also entered EMV debit routing agreements with Pulse, First Data and Fiserv. The Fiserv deal in March was the first of a series that MasterCard entered with independent debit networks to facilitate the routing of EMV debit payments through the use of a common application identifier. Under a mandate of the Durbin amendment, debit cards must support he option to be routed on at least two unaffiliated networks.