ALLENTOWN, Penn.—Most Americans are still unaware of what a chip card is, a new study reveals.
Despite the October 1 liability shift deadline and efforts on the part of merchants, issuers and payment networks to educate consumers on EMV, 56% of Americans still say they don’t know what a chip card is, according to a study from point-of-sale provider Harbortouch.
The survey consisted of 18,000 adults throughout the United States.
More than half of respondents (53.6%) said they were still waiting on chip replacement cards from one or more of their credit card issuers. Millennials were the least likely to use EMV cards, according to the study, but they were more likely to adopt mobile payments than any other age group.
“With about one week remaining until the deadline, this research indicates it may be a somewhat rocky EMV transition for American merchants and consumers,” said Bill Hardekopf, CEO at LowCards.com, Birmingham, Ala.
The study shows that consumers with lower incomes are less familiar about EMV technology than those in higher income brackets (40% compared to 74%).
Only 50.8% of participants believed that smartchips will provide added security. Men were more likely to feel that way than women (58.8% vs. 41.4%).
“Other recent studies have shown that businesses are just as unprepared to transition to chip and PIN cards as consumers,” noted Hardekopf, adding that again this signals the EMV transition in the U.S. could be challenging. “Only 22% of small businesses are ready for the October 1st deadline, and only 25% of debit cards will be chipped by the end of the year.”