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by LarrySDonald
4863 days ago
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> the credit card industry HAS and IS deploying the most up-to-date technology. In some regions, e.g. US, there are legal or infrastructure barriers that take time to overcome. And why is that, you think? People are somewhat surprised that a magstripe is still even considered valid here and have been for years. I've seen zero chip readers in the US. It's been more than five years since I've heard of a merchant using magstrips in the EU. The industry in the US isn't toothless. Nor is the government. They seemed perfectly capable of banning betting and sales of illegal goods or donations to causes they disapprove of. Yes, they are now starting to roll out stuff. I have no idea how they're going to do it seeing as they're apparently still living in the remote past. Can they roll out all this by 2017? Perhaps. Meanwhile, in the EU Square Up is distributing free chip readers for android or iphone, same as the US side does for magstripes. Which they can then transmit over the nice 100 Mbit fiber. Apparently, it wasn't that damn hard, except in the US. |
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I was in the US last summer for two weeks, and I saw several. Perhaps because I'm used to chip and pin?
> in the EU Square Up is distributing free chip readers for android or iphone
No they aren't, I think they said they were going to but there's no way to get one from them right now.
On the small business angle, chip and pin in the UK has been a nightmare for small retailers. It's been in for several years now and things like Square are much more recent. A chip and pin device is not cheap - far more than many small businesses can afford.
By 2015 (which is the liability date for point of sale terminals and you bet your boots they will change those machines quickly once it's costing them money) Square and things like it will be mature and ready, so hopefully you guys will make the transition much more easily than we are!