EMV adoption slower than expected: 37 percent of merchants are ready

According to a survey conducted by The Strawhecker Group (TSG), 37% of US merchant locations are EMV-ready, four months after the October 1, 2015 liability shift. TSG’s previous survey of payment processors and other payment providers completed in September 2015 estimated that over 40% would be EMV ready by this time, showing a slower pace of implementation than expected before the shift.

By June 2016, it is estimated that consumers will be able to use their EMV credit and debit cards at 50% of US merchant locations. EMV-readiness is not expected to reach a threshold of least 90% of merchant locations until 2017 – more than 15 months after the shift. EMV is a globally accepted card standard that uses an embedded microchip to provide unique data protection when the card is inserted into a chip-card reader.

Findings also reveal that the three biggest hurdles slowing EMV implementation are payment processor readiness, gateway readiness, and technical staff resource availability.

Also, nearly 40% of respondents felt that media coverage had a negative impact on their EMV implementation efforts.