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Plaintiffs Milam's Market and Grove Liquors LLC re-
portedly installed EMV readers but were unable to ac-
tivate them due to delays in certification. The retailers
were subsequently found liable by Mastercard and Visa
for 88 chargebacks totaling $9,196.22 that began in Oc-
tober 2015 and continued until March 2016, when the
lawsuit was filed. Plaintiff counsel Patrick J. Coughlin
stated, "In the end, our hope is to secure some relief
for the millions of merchants ? many of them small
businesses ? who have suffered and continue to suffer
enormous losses from this conspiracy."

Continuing efforts

As EMV implementation continues, retailers and card
brands have launched new payment schemes aimed
at reducing contact chip card transaction time at the
POS. Visa's Quick Chip reportedly reduces transac-
tion times to two seconds or less. Mastercard's M/Chip
Fast is designed for high-volume environments such as
quick service restaurants, where transaction times are
at a premium. These and similar enhanced chip card
methods have decreased processing time and waiting
time in checkout lanes.

Ongoing delays in processor and device certifications
and widespread complaints by small to midsize mer-
chants have prompted card brands to relax penalties
and regulations related to the liability shift. Card
brands have tried to improve outreach, resources
and support for merchants who are trying to imple-
ment EMV technology. Visa's recent move to restrict
the number of fraudulent transactions that issuers can
charge back to noncompliant merchants and card issu-
ing banks has cut reported chargebacks in half since
March 2016, Visa representatives stated.

Despite numerous setbacks and legal confrontations,
U.S. payments industry stakeholders remain commit-
ted to implementing chip card technology to improve
security and provide a consistent payment experience
worldwide. Visa reported that foreign banks approved
nearly 97 percent of U.S. Visa chip transactions over-
seas, compared with about 87 percent for non-chip
cards.

"Chip is an important investment in the payment sys-
tem, not only in security but also in driving future
innovation and making payments easier for consum-
ers," Visa's Ericksen stated. "The U.S. is clearly well on
its way, and we're looking forward to many more ad-
vancements ahead."

Ajay Bhalla, President of Global Enterprise Risk and
Security at Mastercard said, "Ultimately, we all want
to deliver great experiences for consumers and mer-
chants. That's why we believe that M/Chip Fast or any
similar product should be implemented in consulta-
tion with the industry."

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