Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward
@DTPaymentNews
Chip-on-chip transaction volume continues to rise as the United States payments industry nears the one-year mark since the Oct. 1, 2015, liability shift, totaling 554.8 million in July, a 26% increase from 440.1 million in May, Visa Inc. announced Tuesday. Since November, Visa’s chip-on-chip transactions have more than tripled.
Digital Transactions News estimates that chip-on-chip EMV transactions now account for 11.1% of all Visa U.S. transactions, using data from the brand’s third-quarter results.
Many observers pay close attention to chip-on-chip transactions because they represent occasions where EMV terminals at merchants are reading the chips in cards presented by customers, rather than defaulting to the magnetic stripes many cards still bear.
Payment volume made with Visa chip cards also increased in July, totaling $31.3 billion, a 21% increase from $25.9 billion in May, and a 159% increase from November’s tally of $12.1 billion.
Visa says that 1.38 million merchant locations now accept chip cards, meaning they have the equipment and software to actively accept the cards. That’s a 14% increase from 1.21 million in May, and a 100% increase from 690,000 in November. More than 75% of these locations are small and mid-size business, Visa says.
Recently Visa, MasterCard Inc., and Discover Financial Services instituted changes to the EMV certification process that include a reduction in testing requirements and an easing of EMV chargeback policies. The changes could make it easier for many merchants to enable EMV acceptance. American Express Co. revised its EMV chargeback policy.
Visa said the total number chip cards now in circulation is 345.9 million, a 14.5% increase from May’s total of 302 million and a 77% increase from the November total of 195.4 million. Of the 345.9 million cards in use, 174.5 million are debit cards and 171.4 million are credit cards
EMV chip cards appear to be having an effect on deterring counterfeit card fraud. This type of fraud at chip-enabled merchants decreased 38% in April, compared with April 2015, Visa says. The impact of that reduction is not yet reaching consumers, suggests a recent Auriemma Consulting Group survey of 500 debit card holders. In it, 46% say it is likely they will experience card fraud in the next five years.
