Chip cards take too long

Just one month after the Oct. 1 EMV transition deadline, a survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults by Harbortouch—a point-of-sale services provider—found that one in five consumers consider transaction time as their top concern when using an EMV-enabled credit or debit card.

"On average, it takes between seven to ten seconds to pay using a chip card versus two to three seconds to pay using a traditional swipe credit card," says Jared Isaacman, founder and & CEO of Harbortouch, which processes $11 billion in credit card sales each year. "While seemingly small, during busy times like the holidays, these increased processing times could add up quickly.”

The survey also investigated additional EMV chip-card preferences and usage habits of U.S. consumers. Highlights:

• Only 21% of consumers have used an EMV card. The highest adoption rates of EMV cards are among respondents ages 25-34 years-old—the millennials (25.3%).

• Most consumers say swipe credit cards are the quickest. When polled on the quickest form of electronic payment, 67% still believe that traditional swipe cards are the fastest method available.

• Speed trumps security. Nearly four times as many survey respondents are more worried about speedy processing times over chip card security or availability of EMV terminals.

Read “EMV on the front lines,” the first-person story of a Target cashier during transition