FOSTER CITY, Calif.—Visa plans to offer merchants a way to speed up those slow chip-card checkouts.
Visa said it will offer an update, called Quick Chip, to POS systems to make using an EMV chip-enabled card faster at the checkout line. Consumers accustomed to quickly
“swiping” mag stripe cards have complained about the length of chip card transactions, as have merchants.
The new system would not require cardholders to leave the plastic in the terminal throughout the transaction.
The Quick Chip specification is available free-of-charge to payment processors, acquiring banks, and other payment networks to offer to merchants, Visa stated. The upgrade streamlines the processing of chip card transactions to enable customers to dip and remove their EMV chip card from the terminal, typically in two seconds or less, without waiting for the transaction to be finalized. The enhancement requires only a simple software update to the merchant’s card terminal or point of sale system, the company explained.
“Visa is advancing a streamlined approach to chip transactions to make them faster and more efficient, while still providing a safe and secure experience,” said Mark Nelsen, senior vice president of risk products and business intelligence, Visa Inc. “Quick Chip for EMV helps make the checkout experience comparable to the ease and speed of magnetic stripe transactions.”
Visa said the updated process provides a number of key benefits, including:
- Faster Checkouts: Quick Chip-enhanced terminals will prompt the cardholder to dip the chip card briefly in the reader and then remove it, reducing the card’s interaction with the terminal to about two seconds.
- Streamlined Processing: Quick Chip-enhanced terminals can also allow the payment card to be inserted and removed while the shopping cart is still being rung up, further streamlining the acceptance process for the consumer.
- Simple Implementation: Quick Chip requires a payment application software update that can be easily downloaded to the payment terminal. Once installed, the technology will work with all cardholder verification methods, including signature and PIN, and does not require the merchant to make any changes to its routing or transaction handling. Quick Chip does not require additional Visa or EMVCo testing if a merchant’s checkout system has already been certified as EMV chip compliant. No changes to chip cards are needed.
Walmart has also streamlined its chip-card transaction time by 11 seconds, The Wall Street Journal reported. Walmart achieved the time savings by eliminating a prompt that asked shoppers to confirm the amount of the transaction.