Tales from the Checkout Counter: How EMV for a Week is Coming Along

Last updated: 22 February 2016

Over the course of the past week, four personal finance bloggers have been investigating the state of EMV support in their communities by recording observations about everyday transactions.

Our EMV for a Week Challenge participants looked at the EMV experience at small local businesses and big box stores alike. At each stop, they took note of whether EMV readers were installed, online or not present at all, and logged how much time each EMV transaction took to process. These observations were meant to gauge how that processing time affects consumer’s experiences at the checkout counter.

The EMV for a Week Challenge is nearly over and, since the challenge began Saturday, participants have swiped their debit or credit cards’ magnetic strip nearly twice as many times as they have dipped their chip cards into EMV terminals.

So far, local cafes have been well equipped to process EMV transactions…

 

 

cafe1 cafe2

… while tourist attractions seem less likely to be ready for EMV.

tourist 2 tourist1

For all but one participant, a meal in a fast food restaurant meant swiping their card.

fastfood1fastfood2

We’ll announce the official winner soon and will make a $400 donation to that winner’s charity of choice, so the stakes are high. You can still follow along by searching #ChipAwayAtFraud on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, or you can follow the links below to each participant’s social media accounts. All four participants will also be publishing in-depth wrap-up posts this week on their individual websites. Stay tuned here as well, because next week we’ll crunch the numbers from the challenge!

Damian Davila – idaconcpts.com@idaconcptsUH Foundation

Holly Johnson – ClubThrifty.com@ClubThriftyHumane Society for Hamilton County

Maryalene LaPonsie – MoneyTalksNews.com @themightywidowPink Arrow Project

Robert Siciliano – RobertSiciliano.com@RobertSicilianoBoston Children’s Hospital

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