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Two Weeks Out- How Ready are U.S. Merchants for EMV?

The Strawhecker Group (TSG) released survey results today that illustrated only 27 percent of U.S. merchants will be EMV-ready by the October 1st liability shift. This represents a sizable decline from 34 percent estimated in March.

By December 2015, 44 percent of U.S. merchants are expected to adopt EMV, however EMV-readiness will not reach a threshold of least 90 percent until 2017 – more than 15 months after the shift.

“Though the cost to become EMV-ready may be substantial to many, merchants with fraud exposure should get ready for the liability shift,” says Mike Strawhecker, Principal at TSG. “This would include merchants that are targets for fraudsters because they sell items that might have high value and/or can be easily resold such as electronics, household appliances, and jewelry.”

EMV may not be as much of an issue for certain merchant types, such as restaurants for example, that have a lower likelihood of fraud. One survey respondent said, “I think that EMV is being overblown in terms of urgency for the vast majority of merchants in the U.S.”

Read more here.

Related:

TSG – EMV Infographic Sept 2015