"Without merchants and terminals to support EMV, the impact of issuing the chip-enabled cards is all for naught."

but

"After Oct. 1, 2015 — which is less than six months away — any merchant that can’t accept EMV chip cards will be liable for the costs of fraud"

So, if the merchant does not upgrade, they bear the cost of fraud - and the issuer does not. If the merchant does upgrade, the fraud is allegedly significantly reduced (or moves online, where it is no longer the issuer's problem). Either way, the issuer benefits.