With the EMV transition in full swing, merchants, consumers, and financial institutions are busy adjusting to the new system. While the transition may not be happening as quickly as some have hoped, one thing is changing—consumers are becoming more and more aware of the credit card security issues that face the payments world each year, especially during the holiday season.
70% of Consumers Want EMV Technology
In a new study highlighted in The Paypers, seven out of 10 consumers report wanting to see EMV-friendly pay terminals in stores. This number shows an increased attention to credit card security from consumers. With data breaches exposing millions of consumer credit card numbers each year, it’s no wonder why shoppers want to feel safe using their cards at stores.
However, there is still something a bit discouraging about that 70%. In an ideal world, all consumers would be concerned about their credit card security, and would be urging merchants to upgrade their pay terminals in accordance. However, not all consumers understand EMV, making it hard for them to form an opinion on card security.
As EMV rolls out, more than 50% of reporting consumers have stated they have at least one chip card. As this number increases, watch for more requests from consumers to protect card data. EMV has the potential to incredibly minimize credit card fraud, so it won’t be a surprise to see that as the technology spreads, awareness will spread as well.
Tokenization is Gaining Traction
Another statistic highlighted in the report shows a growing awareness of tokenization. As EMV has the potential to keep in-store credit card transactions safe, tokenization has the potential to limit fraud that occurs through the internet, like data breaches. A staggering nine in ten consumers think merchants should treat tokenization technology with priority to stay ahead of the growing rates of cybercrime. As the success of EMV is measured, we should expect a similar push for tokenization in the near future.
