Visa’s Latest Chip Card Stats

Nearly three months past the EMV migration deadline, just how far has the industry come?

It’s still too early to tell on most fronts, but on the payment network side, early stats give some indication as to how many consumers are equipped to make chip card payments.

Newly released stats from Visa show that the momentum is shifting in the right direction. Here’s the latest chip card stats from Visa (as of Oct. 31):

• 180.6 million Visa chip cards have been issued in the U.S. That’s a 531 percent increase from 2014’s figures.
• 7 out of 10 U.S. consumers have at least one chip card in their wallet.
• 592,000 merchant locations are chip enabled; that’s a 49 percent increase in October 2015 alone.
• The volume of chip card transactions in the U.S. increased by 42 percent in October, from September’s figure of $4.8 billion to $8.9 billion.

“As more Americans begin using their chip cards for the first time this holiday season, it’s important to know why chip technology makes payments more secure. The chip generates a unique, one-time code for each transaction, adding another layer of protection to every purchase. This technology is virtually impossible to replicate, which means criminals cannot take stolen card information and create counterfeit cards,” Visa wrote in its release about the stats.

In the release geared for the consumer audience, Visa also touts the security of mobile payments — specifically Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. Ironically, the release notes that “one of the most secure (and convenient) ways to pay this holiday season is not in your wallet. It’s on your phone.” Of course, it’s Visa cards being loaded onto those mobile wallets, but it’s interesting to see them pushing for mobile payments over those newly distributed cards they just shipped out.

And, of course, Visa used the chance to promote its digital checkout option: Visa Checkout.

“If you’ve decided to avoid the mall mayhem this year by taking your shopping online, keep an eye out for the Visa Checkout button, a fast and secure alternative to filling out online form fields,” the release reads. “By working with merchants to integrate tokens into Visa Checkout, Visa will be paving the way for its security technology to extend to virtually every type of consumer payment experience – in-store, online and in-app.”