Speed is the key

Have you, either as a business owner or as a consumer, had complaints about how long it takes the new EMV cards to complete a transaction? It takes what seems like an eternity to complete especially when there are other people in line waiting on you. The good news is that help is on the way.
Analysis has shown that it takes 10 seconds longer to complete an EMV transaction than to swipe the card. That is an eternity at a business where the line always seems to be long and getting longer. Retailers have complained and the credit card companies have listened! Both Visa and MasterCard have developed technology to speed up the process and reduce the 10 second wait down to 2 seconds. That is great news but as with any new technology there will be issues.
The first issue is that both Visa (Quick Chip for EMV) and MasterCard (M/Chip Fast) have developed their own version of the technology separately rather than working together. While the upgrade was announced it has yet to be adopted for use with EMV terminals and of course any software bugs that will inevitably be unearthed will have to be worked out. With two different versions it is also hoped that it can be paired down to one standard before it is implemented, which will greatly reduce confusion and make a smoother, more robust rollout.
Second, it is believed that an upgrade either now or the foreseeable future will increase confusion for the customers who are still learning how to use their cards. It is also inevitable that not every vendor will upgrade at once. After all many (like you) just spent a lot of money to upgrade their terminals and may balk at spending money to upgrade once again. What that will mean is that some vendors may have the upgraded terminals and some won’t, which will lead to more consumer confusion.
So when can you expect this to be rolled out? In all probability it will be at least 2017, so you will have to put up with the slower processing speeds for at least a year but you can do so knowing that help is on the way. You can also rest easy knowing that when the upgrade is released that JLE will be there for you. Give Jeff call at 717-781-3750 for more information.