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EMV migration slows even as deadline looms

The reasons for the slowdown — and its longer-term implications — are the subject of a new research note by Mercator.

August 14, 2015

Progress toward EMV compliance has slowed in 2015 as issuers and merchants deal with a range of technical, logistical, and educational challenges, according to a new research note from Mercator Advisory Group.

"Migrating to EMV: The (Not So) Final Countdown" includes an updated outlook for EMV credit card issuance and point-of-sale reterminalization, and provides an overview of the trends and challenges currently constraining the U.S. migration to EMV.

"The move to EMV is a beneficial thing for the U.S. payments industry, but credit card issuers and merchants are struggling to reach full compliance before the fraud liability shift in October," said Alex Johnson, senior analyst at Mercator Advisory Group and the author of the note. "We need to prepare ourselves for a longer and messier transition than many originally anticipated."

Highlights of the research note include:

• updated estimates for the reissuance of credit cards and reterminalization of merchants' payment systems to support EMV ;
• analysis of the factors preventing many merchants and issuers from enabling EMV transactions before the liability shift;
• a view to consumer awareness of and satisfaction with EMV ;
• explanation of the differing factors that influence EMV-enablement strategies among merchants of various sizes; and
• guidance on the long-term implications of EMV migration for the adoption of mobile payments and point-to-point encryption.