Aug 23, 2016

Visa Tackles the Biggest EMV Issue

EMV has rolled out to stores and Visa Quick Chip

credit card terminals around the world. It’s the new standard for secure transactions, and people are encouraged to use their chip-enabled cards whenever they have the option. One of the major complaints about EMV (it may be the only complaint, really) is how long it takes to run a card with a chip. Traditional magstripe transactions allow you to swipe once and the final amount and authorization are handled afterwards. With the current EMV software, customers have to insert their card and leave it in the terminal until the total of the purchase is known and authorized. This process takes about 15 seconds, which may not seem like much on paper, but when you’re standing in a line of 5 people those seconds can really add up. Visa is working on a fix to make EMV transactions faster and more convenient for both cardholders and merchants. Visa’s Quick Chip is a software update for the payment terminals (no need to have credit cards reissued) that allows chip authorization to be handled similarly to magnetic strip authorization. Quick Chip makes transactions faster by allowing cardholders to insert their card then remove it without having to wait for the final amount and authorization response (think ATM-style swiping) . According to Visa, this update will bring the time it takes to pay with an EMV-equipped card down from 15 seconds to 2 seconds. Customers can also insert their card at any time during checkout, making EMV even more convenient, all while providing the same level of security as current EMV transactions. Visa is going to begin rolling out QuickChip to merchant processing providers, at which point customers will be able to update their systems and speed up their checkout process. If you’re interested in learning more about Quick Chip, Visa has provided an online guide on their website.