Skimmer Task Group Update from the NCWM Annual Meeting

The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) held their Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15-18.  The NCWM is comprised of state and local weights and measures officials from around the United States.  NCWM members meet twice annually and set the standards memorialized in Handbooks 130 and 44.  Handbooks 130 and 44 are adopted by the individual states either by reference or as modified by the implementing agency.  In Iowa, the Iowa Department of Agriculture adopts Handbooks 130 and 44 with the ability to modify Iowa’s adoption by rulemaking.

One issue emerging within the NCWM is a proposal relating to security measures taken by retail locations to protect against the placement of skimming devices on or in retail motor fuel dispensers.  The NCWM Skimmer Task Force introduced a proposal to the NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee (S&T) that would require “Any retail motor fuel device capable of conducting customer initiated electronic financial transactions must be secured to substantially restrict the ability of unauthorized persons to manipulate it to obtain payment information that could be used to commit fraud.” The proposal provides four options for retailers to comply 1) physical lock, locking device, or a physical securing device that will restrict access, 2) Electronic alarming or disabling of the equipment, 3) Advanced payment acceptance technologies that increase protections against the theft of payment information, 4) or other alternative approved by local or state weights and measures authorities.

If ultimately adopted, this proposal would give state weights and measures inspectors regulatory oversight over the security measures employed by retailers to combat the placement of skimming devices at their retail locations.  FUELIowa will be monitoring this proposal and working with the Iowa Department of Agriculture to better understand how it would be implemented in Iowa.