MasterCard Launches Faster EMV Technology
Faster EMV is coming to the U.S. MasterCard has launched M/Chip Fast, which “brings some of the principles successfully implemented for contactless cards and mobile wallets around the world to point-of-sale terminals,” the payments network said.
The tool, in testing, promises to shave seconds off EMV transactions, enabling consumers to remove cards from terminals before transactions are complete. That could speed checkout lines and save consumers frustration. “Ultimately, what we all want is that great experience for consumers and merchants,” said Ajay Bhalla, MasterCard’s president of enterprise security. It is unclear how much of a problem consumers have with the speed of EMV transactions, but the announcement follows Visa’s “Quick Chip for EMV,” a free software update for terminals that also enables consumers to remove their EMV cards in two seconds or less. As part of the announcement, Visa said that more than 256 million U.S. debit and credit cards carrying the Visa brand are EMV-enabled. More than 1 million merchants can accept EMV transactions.
MasterCard said that U.S. consumers can use its EMV chip cards at 1.2 million merchant locations, and that 67 percent of its branded credit cards in U.S. carry EMV chips.
The digital edition of the Spring issue of Pay Magazine, now available , features an in-depth look at the U.S. EMV rollout and what the immediate future holds for the anti-fraud payment technology.
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