In a letter to congressional leaders, NAFCU President/CEO DanBerger criticized the Food Marketing Institute's recent request forcard issuers to delay the October 2015 deadline for the Europay, MasterCard and Visa EMVliability shift.

Berger argued that retailers should be subject to the same data security standardsfinancial institutions are required to follow by law.

“FMI's delay tactic is remarkable given the extraordinary numberof merchant and retailer breaches that have occurred in recentmonths coupled with the intense interest in preventing breachesfrom lawmakers and the regulatory agencies,” Berger wrote in theletter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) andMinority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

A letter with similar language was also sent to House SpeakerJohn Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)on Thursday.

According to the FMI's letter, dated March 23, some FMI membershave the EMV equipment installed in their stores while many othersare waiting to receive the new EMV-capable payments terminals.

FMI claimed that there is a 16-week delay for delivery.

“Compounding the delay in terminal delivery with theinstallation process and the certification requirements, somegrocers already know the October deadline will be unattainable,”the letter said.

Berger labeled the request an attempt to detract from substantive issues, including strictdata protection, in favor of a smoke-and-mirrors campaign on chipand PIN.

“Despite the continued 'chip and PIN' rhetoric from groups likethe National Retail Federation and Retail Industry LeadersAssociation, their large retailer members are contacting thepayment networks and demanding an implementation delay. Congressshould not be fooled by these groups' unscrupulous tactics andfalsehoods,” he wrote.

The payment networks are set to shift the responsibility for anyfraud resulting from a payment transaction to the party using theleast-secure technology. Berger said credit unions have workedtirelessly to do their part in providing a safe and secure paymentssystem.

“As credit unions and their 100 million members continue tosuffer as a direct result of recent merchant and retailer databreaches, FMI is more concerned about the cost of complying withthe EMV standards and how quickly they can process transactionsthan it is about consumers and doing everything they can to protecttheir customers from future breaches,” he said.

Berger cited a February 2015 survey of NAFCU members, whichfound the estimated costs related to merchant data breaches in 2014averaged $226,000 per institution and respondents only expect torecoup less than 0.5% of their losses.

“While NAFCU has long believed that the conversation about EMVis important and that merchants and retailers should do their partin this regard, Congress must act to ensure technology standardsare accompanied by strong data safekeeping standards for merchantsand retailers akin to what credit unions comply with under theGramm-Leach-Bliley Act,” Berger wrote.