Cardholder verification authenticates the cardholder. EMV supports four CVMs:
Online PIN, where the PIN is encrypted and verified online by the card issuer
Offline PIN, where the PIN is verified offline by the EMV chip card
Signature verification, where the cardholder signature on the receipt is compared to the signature on the back of the card
No CVM, where none is used (typically for low value transactions or for transactions at unattended POS locations
Depending on payment network rules and issuer preference, chip cards are personalized with one or more CVMs in order to be accepted in as wide a variety of locations as possible. Different terminal types support different CVMs. For example, attended POS devices, in addition to supporting signature, may support online or offline PINs (or both), while some unattended card-activated terminals may support “no CVM.”