EMV road map discussion continues

Following Visa Inc.'s spring 2011 release of a road map for U.S. adoption of the Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip-based payment standard, U.S. card brands MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Financial Services and American Express Co. followed suit, issuing milestones to be met by payment processors, acquirers and merchants governed by their rules.

In a report titled U.S. EMV Timeline Beyond the Road Maps: How Long Will Conversion Really Take?, Mercator Advisory Group stated,"[I]n theory, the road maps should serve as a reasonable expectation for when the U.S. will fully adopt EMV, but judging by past experience, that likely won't be the case."

Report highlights include:

• Reasons why the United States did not migrate to EMV when Europe did
• Discussion of what is behind the current motivation for U.S. adoption of EMV
• Detailed breakdown of the EMV road map in the United States with milestone deadlines
• Forecast of U.S. EMV conversion by all parties based on historical evidence

"The road maps laid out by the networks intend to convert the U.S. payments ecosystem to EMV by 2015, four years after the first road map was developed," stated Dave Kaminsky, Senior Analyst, Mercator Advisory Group Emerging Technologies Advisory Service, and the author of the report. "Judging by the experience of other countries in trying to implement EMV, as well as the experience of the networks' previous attempts to influence changes among U.S. merchants, that time frame likely will not be met."

To more accurately devise a U.S. EMV migration timeline, the report examines previous EMV road maps implemented in other regions, as well as prior road maps deployed in the United States for other payment shifts.

For more information about the 24-page report, visit www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com .

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