Small Businesses Embrace Mobile Payments Over Credit Cards

The move to EMV standards has spurred independent retailers to encourage mobile payments rather than traditional credit and debit cards.

August 26, 2016

KENNESAW, Ga. – Many small businesses are simply opting out of the EMV standards by pushing mobile payments, Payment Week reports. The recent CAN Capital Small Business Health Index found that more than one in three small businesses (34%) accepted mobile payments, such as Apple Pay. That’s a huge increase from April 2015 when the number of small businesses that allowed mobile payments hovered at 13%.

A mere 27% of respondents to the survey indicated EMV compliance with their current POS systems. Even the liability shift to the retailer for noncompliance hasn’t made a difference to many of these smaller merchants. In fact, 70% of businesses won’t upgrade to EMV within the next year.

Using the word “concerning” when talking about the results of the survey, CAN Capital CEO Daniel DeMeo urged small retailers to work “with payment processors…to upgrade their payment systems both to protect themselves and to better serve their customers.”

If small merchants don’t convert to EMV at all, it could adversely impact both the retailers and the entire industry. Currently, it’s been the larger businesses that have led the way for EMV compliance. Payment Week posited that if big retail chains are the only ones with EMV capabilities, the danger is that those businesses might begin to question why they should bother with the switch.

For now, it appears that smaller retailers have found a way around converting to EMV by promoting and accepting mobile payments. Read “Self-Centered Convenience” in the May issue of NACS Magazine for more on mobile payments.

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