Lightspeed: Urgency for EMV Is Low but Modernization Is a Priority for Merchants

June 2, 2015 By: Thadeus Geodfrey

The retail landscape is getting more competitive by the minute, forcing retailers to look for ways to stay ahead.

One of the ways for them to do so would be to introduce EMV payments. However, even with the deadline for EMV implementation fast approaching, there seems to be no urgency on the retailers’ part to upgrade.

Lightspeed, the end-to-end commerce solutions provider, carried out a survey and found 75 percent of companies are afraid of a security breach, but are still hesitant to upgrade their POS systems to support EMV. In fact Lightspeed found that 45 percent of companies surveyed were either not planning on, or were unsure of whether they were moving to EMV-compliant point of sale systems.

This lack of understanding about EMV could see businesses losing customers if they are not EMV compliant, or losing large amounts of money should a breach occur after October’s liability shift.

Modernization Is a Top Priority

The survey also showed that retailers are focused on modernizing and investing in the right technologies to keep their customers satisfied.

This means despite their concerns; they are willing to implement new technologies if it sees them attract new clients and maintain a steady income.

Merchants are wising up to mobile payments with 34 percent, 25 percent, and 23 percent of respondents saying they would accept Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay respectively, by the end of the year.