EMV L3 Certification Overview

Only an L3-certified system can take EMV payments. Payment processors certify EMV payment systems. Payment application providers apply for L3 certification with payment processors and follow each processor's application process to get L3 certified. The payment application, payment terminal, and network all need to pass a suite of tests to receive certification. The payment application and device both need to be developed and configured together so they can pass all required tests in each Brand Test Tool (BTT). UL offers the most common BTT in use; 

Customers completing EMV L3 certification testing have an ID TECH product and a payment processor with whom to work for the certification. The EMV L3 certification process usually follows the steps below:

1. The customer completes an EMV certification questionnaire for the product undergoing certification. ID TECH engineers provide this questionnaire to assist customers in the application process. Download each product's questionnaire under Certifications, LoAs, and TQMs > Miscellaneous on each Knowledge Base product Knowledge Base product page.

2. After customers complete the questionnaire, they work with their processor to create a TPP configuration file that defines with suite of tests the device needs to pass for the UL Test Tool.

   1. The ID TECH support team can help the customer review and verify the file is correct.

   2. The customer proceeds with L3 testing and informs ID TECH about any failed cases.

3. After completing all tests with the customer application, the unit used to complete those tests becomes the golden sample.

4. ID TECH uses ViVOconfig to read and save the golden sample's configuration file, which can in turn configure subsequent readers.

5. ID TECH turns the ViVOconfig file into a part number to invoice with the customer's readers (typically an invoice has three line items: the reader, the configuration file, and the key).