Over Half of All Payment Cards Issued Now Have Smartchips
April 20, 2018 
Written By Bill Hardekopf New research from EMVCo shows that over half of the payment cards issued worldwide in 2017 had smartchips. Specifically, 54.6% of cards issued globally were EMV enabled, and 63.7% of card-present transactions involved a chip.
Jack Pan, EMVCo Executive Committee Chair, said, “Both EMV chip card issuance and EMV chip transactions surpassing 50% globally is…a significant milestone for the payments community.” The number of EMV cards issued increased by more than one billion in 2017, exceeding seven billion in total.
Featured Prepaid Card
NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card
Applying for this card will securely direct you to the issuer's website.
Top Features:
No late fees or interest charges because this is not a credit card it is a prepaid card.
America has made great strides in card security since the transition to EMV in October 2015. EMVCo notes 41.2% of card-present transactions in the United States are now backed by a smartchip, significantly more than 0.12% in 2014, before the transition. Nevertheless, America still trails behind Europe (98.6% in some areas), Canada (88.5%), Africa (90.9%) and Asia Pacific (54.4%).
To be considered an EMV transaction for EMVCo’s study, both the card and the terminal had to be EMV-enabled. This may be one of the reasons why America is still behind the rest of the world. While many Americans have chipped-cards, many businesses have not updated their registers to accommodate them. If they have the right readers, they may not yet have the chip reader enabled.
This is particularly true among small businesses. Before the October 1 deadline two and a half years ago, only 22% of small businesses said they were ready for the switch. Nearly half (46%) of small business owners at that time said they did not want to pay for a new card terminal. As the demand for EMV and credit card security climbs, these formerly-hesitant business owners may have to make the transition to maintain their customers.
This entry was posted in Credit Card News and tagged credit cards , EMV , smart cards , chip credit cards , EMV cards , payment cards , chip cards , smart chips , EMV chip , EMVCo , chip terminals , smartchips , chip payment cards , EMV transaction , chip transaction , Jack Pan , credit card chip , chip payment
The information contained within this article was accurate as of April 20, 2018. For up-to-date information on any of the terms, cards or offers mentioned above, visit the issuer's website. Many of the offers on this article are from our affiliate partners, and LowCards.com may be compensated if you take action with any of our affiliate partners.
Review LowCards.com Editor’s Top Cards!
2020 Top Credit Cards by Category
Featured Prepaid Card
NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card
Featured Prepaid Card
NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card
Applying for this card will securely direct you to the issuer's website.
Top Features: No late fees or interest charges because this is not a credit card it is a prepaid card.
Featured Secured Card
Assent Platinum 0% Intro Rate Mastercard Secured Credit Card
Featured Secured Card
Assent Platinum 0% Intro Rate Mastercard Secured Credit Card
Applying for this card will securely direct you to the issuer's website.
Top Features: Intro APR Offer on Purchases
Featured Fair Credit Card
Reflex Mastercard® Credit Card
Featured Fair Credit Card
Reflex Mastercard® Credit Card
Applying for this card will securely direct you to the issuer's website.
Top Features: All credit types welcome to apply!
Featured Bad Credit Card
First Digital NextGen Mastercard® Credit Card
Featured Bad Credit Card
First Digital NextGen Mastercard® Credit Card
Applying for this card will securely direct you to the issuer's website.
Top Features: Reports to all three credit bureaus, perfect credit not required for approval
