Chip Card Shift Projected To Be Nearly Done By 2017

As the Oct. 1 deadline for the EMV merchant-liability shift inches closer, there’s going to be a lot more reports about which type of merchants are ready, and which aren’t. There’s also going to be plenty of reports on which issuers have their credit and debit cards EMV-chip enabled (and which are behind).

The updated projection from the Payments Security Task Force, provided yesterday (May 4), estimates that the U.S. shift to chip cards will be close to complete by 2017. While that date is still two years away, some payments leaders are optimistic about the state of the industry as the major issuers and payments networks have been working to help increase the EMV adoption rate with initiatives like educational tools to help merchants make the switch.

The Payments Security Task Force is comprised of participants from Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Credit Union National Association, Discover, First Data, Global Payments Inc., Independent Community Bankers of America, MasterCard, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, Navy Federal Credit Union, Shell, Subway, U.S. Bank, VeriFone, Visa and Wells Fargo.

Eight financial institutions, representing 50 percent of payment card volume in the U.S., estimate that 63 percent of their credit and debit cards will be EMV-chip enabled by the end of 2015. That figure is estimated to grow to 98 percent by the end of 2017.

“The industry is delivering on its commitment to continue to provide a secure and convenient way to pay,” Chris McWilton, President of North America Markets for MasterCard, said in a news release “These numbers show real movement from plans to action as issuers, merchants and others in the payments system engage collaboratively to bring chip cards to the U.S.”

The task force, which formed in early 2014, was designed to spark discussion among executives in the payments space on enhancing payments system security. The discussions have centered on the chip technology that industry leaders say will decrease card fraud because of the one-time code that is generated with each transaction.

“Those in the payments ecosystem have a shared responsibility to collaborate on ways to enhance payments security. Through cross-industry collaboration, the PST has developed tools to support the migration to chip including a program designed to help streamline the EMV testing and certification process and a consumer education website,” Visa President Ryan McInerney said in the news release.