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US Payments Forum Provides Guidance on Optimizing Speed of EMV Transactions

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  • US Payments Forum Provides Guidance on Optimizing Speed of EMV Transactions
US Payments Forum Provides Guidance on Optimizing Speed of EMV Transactions

Princeton Junction, N.J., October 6, 2016 – Many cardholders and merchants have highlighted EMV transaction speeds as an area for improvement as the U.S. continues its migration to EMV chip technology. To provide guidance for issuers and merchants on speeding up EMV transaction times, the U.S. Payments Forum[i] has released a new white paper that provides details on three approaches: “faster EMV” solutions, contactless/Near Field Communication (NFC) transactions, and EMV checkout optimization.

The white paper, “Optimizing Transaction Speed at the POS,” can be downloaded at http://www.emv-connection.com/optimizing-transaction-speed-at-the-point-of-sale/.

“The first phase of the chip migration was focused primarily on getting up and running with chip card acceptance to reduce in-store fraud. Now, merchants can consider additional steps to optimize chip transaction speeds to provide a better consumer payment experience and better throughput for merchants,” said Randy Vanderhoof, director of the U.S. Payments Forum. “This white paper is a primer for different optional techniques that may be used to speed the chip transaction process at the point of sale (POS), and provides a starting point for stakeholders interested in pursuing one or more of the approaches.”

The white paper includes three general solutions for stakeholders to consider to improve transaction times at the POS. These approaches are based on best practices from chip migrations in many other large countries, best practices from the U.S. migration, and a new capability to improve the point-of-sale experience in response to this issue in the U.S. For each category, a detailed description and analysis are presented, including considerations and implications for various stakeholder groups:

  • Faster EMV Solutions. The white paper uses “faster EMV” as an umbrella term to describe the optimized online-only EMV transaction processing solutions announced separately by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. These solutions retain the security features of EMV, while removing dependencies which can negatively impact the cardholder perception of transaction time.
  • Contactless/NFC Transactions. Enabling EMV POS terminals to allow contactless/NFC mobile transactions in the U.S. can greatly improve the cardholder experience. Cardholders benefit from being able to tap and quickly put away the contactless-enabled payment device. Merchants and cardholders benefit from both perceived and actual reduced transaction time compared to contact methods.
  • EMV Checkout Optimization. There are various techniques that merchants and issuers can implement to help optimize the chip checkout experience, arising from both new learnings in implementing EMV and from traditional approaches to optimizing checkout throughput.

This white paper is part of the U.S. Payments Forum’s ongoing effort to identify issues and provide guidance and best practices to overcome them to keep moving the U.S. chip migration forward. Other resources created by the Forum relating to EMV chip technology in the U.S. can be found at www.emv-connection.com.

About the U.S. Payments Forum

The U.S. Payments Forum, formerly the EMV Migration Forum, is a cross-industry body focused on supporting the introduction and implementation of new and emerging technologies that protect the security of, and enhance opportunities for payment transactions within the U.S. The Forum is the only non-profit organization whose membership includes the whole payments ecosystem, ensuring that all stakeholders have the opportunity to coordinate, cooperate on, and have a voice in the future of the U.S. payments industry.

Contact

Megan Shamas
Montner Tech PR
203-226-9290
[email protected]

 

[i] Formerly the EMV Migration Forum

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About the U.S. Payments Forum

The U.S. Payments Forum is a cross-industry body focused on addressing issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across many constituents in the payments industry. The Forum is an affiliated organization of the Secure Technology Alliance, founded in August 2012 as the EMV Migration Forum, and renamed in the U.S. Payments Forum in 2016 to include other new and emerging payments technologies in the United States.

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Session 4: Tuesday, August 12th at 9am PT

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Wrap up the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series with a timely deep dive into one of the most talked-about trends in the financial world: cryptocurrency and stablecoins.

In this final, member-exclusive session, industry experts will demystify the fundamentals of these digital assets and explore their potential impact on the payments ecosystem. From definitions and use cases to regulatory considerations and real-world adoption, this conversation will provide clarity on where crypto fits—and where it’s headed—in mainstream commerce.

If you’re curious about how digital currencies may reshape transactions, settlement, and consumer expectations, this session is your chance to get informed and stay ahead.

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Kick off the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series with a forward-looking conversation on agentic payments—a transformative approach where devices, apps, or digital assistants initiate and complete transactions on behalf of users.

In this member-exclusive session, Visa and Mastercard will share insights into their agentic payment strategies and real-world applications, exploring how AI-driven automation is reshaping customer experiences and the broader payments ecosystem. Joining the conversation is Firmly, a company building the agentic commerce infrastructure powering frictionless AI-native checkout across digital channels.

Moderated by Andrew Gordon from Discover, this discussion will unpack the opportunities, considerations, and future outlook for autonomous commerce.

Moderator: Andrew Gordon, Discover

Panelists: Sukh Dev, Mastercard; Reed Bouchelle, Visa; Kumar Senthil, Firmly

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Session 2: Tuesday, July 8th at 9am PT

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This members-only session will cover the critical role tokenization plays in reducing fraud, protecting data, and enabling secure digital commerce. Attendees will gain clarity on the different types of tokens—network, acquirer, and card-on-file—and learn when issuer involvement is required, when it isn’t, and why that distinction matters.

Whether you’re building, managing, or modernizing payment systems, this session will equip you with the knowledge needed to navigate tokenization with confidence.

Panelists: Manish Nathwani, SHAZAM; Sukh Dev, Mastercard

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Session 3: Tuesday, July 29th at 9am PT – 90 minutes

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Join industry leaders Joe Vasterling (Best Buy) and Sara Walsh (Bank of America) for the third session of the U.S. Payments Forum Summer Education Series—a collaborative conversation between merchants and issuers focused on solving shared challenges and accelerating innovation. This member-exclusive session offers a neutral space to explore evolving regulations, customer experience expectations, and the adoption of new payment technologies. Whether you’re working to optimize transaction flows, enhance security, or better align ecosystem priorities, this session is your chance to engage directly with peers, exchange insights, and help shape the future of payments.

Led by: Joe Vasterling, Best Buy; Sara Walsh, Bank of America

Register Now