It’s becoming a familiar sight – seeing a sparkly-new point-of-sale terminal at your favorite local store with a “chip” card reader ….. that doesn’t yet work. At least one grocery store in my area even has whimsical little signs indicating that the “potato chip” reader or the “chocolate chip” reader isn’t functional. The EMV system (referring to Europay-MasterCard-Visa) is making its way slowly to brick-and-mortar retailers and to the pockets of consumers around the US, but has hit many delays.
In most cases, a not-fully-operational card reader doesn’t indicate foot-dragging or negligence on the part of the merchant — having card readers already shows major financial investment in the implementation. A change that was ushered in on Oct. 1, 2015, the process continues to be stymied by delays in EMV implementation between retailers and their payment services providers. Many banks have also been slow to issue new cards to clients. The shift to “smart” cards also means a shift in liability to retailers from card-issuing banks, a potential problem for any retailer not accepting chip cards or banks that haven’t issued them.
Read more at http://www.advisenltd.com/2016/04/04/delayed-reaction-emv-implementation-moving-slowly-surely/
Erin Ayers, Delayed reaction: EMV implementation moving slowly, surely (April 4, 2016), available with subscription at Advisen Cyber Front Page News.
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