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Merchants and Consumers on EMV Credit Card Processing

EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) chip card payments at the US point of sale (POS) are now 2 years’ old (October 2015) at least officially. However, according to a poll of consumers and retailers by a Boston-based merchant processor, consumers think purchases are still being processed slowly; many merchants still don’t accept chip cards.

Merchants’ and Consumers’ Views on EMV

The above-mentioned poll shows consumers spent 116 million hours at checkout counters waiting for chip card purchase approvals. 26% of consumers say they wait half a minute or more to complete a transaction. Another 22% estimate they wait times up to 20 seconds long. Consumer and merchant complaints have made all of the major payment card networks institute programs to accelerate the process.

Many merchants are indifferent: 66% of merchants report they’re “mildly to not at all frustrated” by slow chip card transactions.

The mentioned company’s survey also reveals:

  • Only 2/3 of the surveyed merchants accept chip cards, though they can financially be held responsible for fraudulent card transactions if their POS terminals can’t read EMV cards
  • 38% of the retailers not accepting EMV think it’s not necessary
  • 28% of the retailers not accepting EMV think EMV is extremely expensive
  • 9% have difficulty finding the right vendor
  • 24% mentioned other reasons for not accepting chip cards

Merchants looking for secure credit card processing at the lowest possible rates should turn to EMB. Emerchantbroker.com is voted the #1 high risk processor in the US and is rated A+ by the BBB. Moreover, EMB, has an A rating with Card Payment Options and is one of Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2016. In partnership with Verifi and Ethoca, EMB offers unmatched chargeback prevention and protection services in the industry.

US Payments Forum Fall 2017 Market Snapshot

According to the global payment networks, 55% of spending is now on chip cards, and 96% of the top 200 merchants are now accepting chip payments. ATM enablement is growing at a fast pace: the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) estimated that 80% of ATMs would be chip-enabled by the end of 2017.

Randy Vanderhoof, US Payments Forum director, notes that 70%-80% of SMBs are now chip-enabled, which is a noticeable increase from 2016. This indicates merchants are taking proactive steps, certifications have become more streamlined and that those certified systems are entering the market more quickly.

Merchants should be aware that the expiration date of chargeback limit policies from Visa and American Express is in April 2018. These policy changes enabled merchants not to be liable for counterfeit fraud chargebacks under $25.

According to Visa, in March 2017, chip-enabled merchants saw a 58% drop in counterfeit fraud compared to 2016. Mastercard reports there was a 54% decrease in counterfeit fraud costs among its EMV-ready merchants from April 2015 to April 2016.