Two in three US POS terminals to be EMV by 2020

The installed base of EMV terminals in the US will reach about 65% by the end of 2020, a new report from GrowthPraxis has found. The installed base of mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) terminals is expected to reach 8.8m units in the same period.

GrowthPraxis“The installed base of POS terminals is estimated to be approximately 12.7m excluding mobile POS,” the authors of US Market Analysis of POS Terminals and EMV & NFC Status Review 2015 calculate. “The installed base of POS terminals with tier one and two retailers is around four million. However, tier one and two retailers contribute to 75% of the payments transaction.

“EMV POS terminal adoption by various merchant categories varies drastically,” they add. “The specialty, mass merchants and grocery category and pharmacy/drug store category are leaders in the adoption of EMV POS with a penetration rate of more than 60% by the end of 2014.

“On the other hand, gasoline station merchants who enjoy a buffer time of two additional years for the liability shift have the lowest adoption rate of EMV. The adoption rate is still in a single digit number. Regarding EMV adoption, we got a mixed response from hotels and restaurants. Many QSRs (quick-service restaurants)  are reluctant to shift to EMV.

“They say that the average transaction volume is much lower as compared to specialty, mass merchants and grocery category, therefore they feel that the probability of a data breach is significantly low. When it comes to mobile POS systems, the ‘others’ category which includes micro merchants are the largest adopters, primarily due to adoption of mobile card readers.

“Although the EMV and NFC adoption was very low until the end of 2014, micro merchants have also given us a hint that they will be moving to EMV and NFC in the next few years. Thus, the EMV and NFC adoption rate is expected to significantly [increase] in the next five years.”

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