Is EMV Causing US Merchants to “Bypass” Sales Opportunities?
“I’m sorry, your card has been declined.” No one wants to hear these words while eating out or shopping. Yet this happens to me—a Canadian with a chip & PIN credit card—quite often as I travel through the US. I heard those words just last week from a waiter at a fine dining restaurant after multiple attempts to process my card. Fortunately, I was able to convince him to re-run the transaction and allow me to enter my PIN instead of bypassing the “Enter PIN” prompt. Payment approved!
This personal encounter made me realize that similar scenarios are likely playing out every day across the US.
The decision to introduce “chip and choice” in the US translates to uncertainty at the point of sale. The familiar understanding that “credit = signature” and “debit = PIN” has been replaced with commands on a card’s chip that instruct the terminal which prompting sequence to follow. Plus, EMV rules support a “PIN bypass” function to allow a cardholder to skip the PIN prompt in case they can’t recall their PIN.
Since US issuers have primarily adopted “chip and signature,” most credit card transactions do not prompt for PIN. However, many international credit cards are “chip and PIN” and may follow EMV rules that either forbid transactions to complete without a valid PIN, or that require narrower approval criteria for transactions without a PIN. Therefore, if a waiter or clerk quickly presses the PIN bypass key, the transaction may be declined, which is embarrassing to the customer and may even result in no sale—outcomes that could harm the customer relationship, and the merchant’s bottom line.
At Equinox, we have found that education is key. Merchants, especially those in tourist areas, should train their staff to identify international cards and not simply press the bypass button when they see “Enter PIN” during a credit card transaction. Additionally, something like “Card requires PIN” could be added to the transaction flow before proceeding to the PIN-entry prompt. Small changes can make a big difference.
What’s your experience with the US rollout of EMV as a customer, merchant or partner?
Need to share what I have known and learned over the past 45 years
8 年I just don't understand how CHIP and SIGN can be better than the global version of CHIP and PIN. Perhaps the card issuers feel that the terabytes required to add a four digit PIN was just too much to pay.
Creative Product Marketing Professional ★ Brand Storyteller ★ Payments Industry Expert
8 年Good information! As a customer, I find all the merchant-made hand-drawn signs like "NO CHIP YET" or "CHIP WORKS" to be quite amusing.