Will My Terminal Ever Become Outdated?

It is possible that a terminal may no longer be supported by the processing networks. This is common on terminals that are more than a couple of years old, as most terminals have at least a 3-5 year lifespan. This can happen for a few reasons:

• Often times, terminals become outdated due to new hardware requirements that are set by Visa/Mastercard. For example – all merchants will be required to have EMV-equipped terminals by 2015. (You can learn more about EMV here.) Since this requirement was set by Visa/Mastercard, it’s something that every merchant will have to comply with.  Any terminals without EMV will no longer be supported on newer networks, and therefore, will not be considered PCI Compliant.  As such, Dharma always recommends having fully-supported terminals, to ensure you remain PCI Compliant.  Dharma is happy to report that all new terminals we sell are fully EMV compatible, and PCI Compliant.

• Occasionally, terminals will become outdated due to internal memory limitations. Just like your home computer, a credit card terminal has a fixed amount of internal memory.  Typically, new software applications are required for terminals in order to stay up-to-date with the most recent security updates.  Each new software application is usually bigger than the last – meaning that over time, it’s possible that your terminal could simply become unable to keep up with the new space requirements.  An upgrade is necessary at that point.