New Projections Released on EMV Adoption

NEW YORK -- More than 575 million Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV)-enabled payment cards will be issued by the end of 2015, according to a survey of nine banks released Wednesday by The Payments Security Task Force (PST).

Several financial institutions, including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, Independent Community Bankers of America (representing issuing members), Navy Federal Credit Union, US Bank and Wells Fargo & Co., participated in the survey.

The PST plans to update this forecast regularly and expand it to include acquirer and merchant perspectives on EMV chip terminalization.

“These numbers reflect the significant momentum behind the adoption of EMV chip in the United States,” said Ryan McInerney, president of Visa. “By the end of next year, these issuers estimate that one in two of their U.S. payment cards will be chip-enabled, which represents real progress given the scale and complexity of this overall effort.”

To further promote EMV chip adoption, the PST is working to identify best practices regarding merchant testing and certification to help significantly reduce the testing and implementation time.

“The move toward enhanced security for cardholders and merchants is real and tangible,” said Chris McWilton, president, North American Markets, MasterCard. “We’re gaining alignment around the most significant challenges where the industry needs to have a common foundation.”

On Oct. 1, 2015, credit card manufacturers will begin to shift responsibility from themselves to retailers regarding fraud occurring at non-EMV-ready point-of-sale terminals. Fuel pump liability shifts will happen exactly two years later.