Retailers Have A Long Way To Go

More than six months have passed since the EMV liability shift deadline. Yet even at the half year mark, it appears that consumers and retailers have a long way to go until EMV payment systems become a staple in the U.S. This slow-paced switch has left many retailers on the hook for fraud liability, and customers confused at checkout. According to Mercator Advisory Groups, just 20 percent of U.S. retailers have terminals activated for chip cards. Thirty percent of retailers have the proper hardware, but simply have not activated the terminals, while an additional 50 percent of retailers have terminals that are unable to process chip cards. Contrast this with the 60 percent of consumers who have chip-enabled credit cards, and you may begin to understand the muddled dynamic.