Canadian Retailers Best The U.S. In The Chip Card Game

Are you accepting credit cards as methods of payment from your customers? If you’re a Canadian retailer, the chances are that you have been doing so for quite some time now. As well, you’re likely used to having your customers “insert” their cards into your POS machines instead of “swiping” them. By this stage, Canadian consumers are used to using PIN codes to complete their credit card transactions, much like they would their debit card transactions.

Such isn’t the same case in the United States, however. At least, this is what we heard, this morning from one of our associates. “My cousin from Florida was in town for the weekend,” he informed us, “We did a bit of shopping yesterday and he used his MasterCard to pay for all of his purchases. It had a chip and everything but he never inserted his card, he only swiped it. He was actually surprised that he had another option.”

Chip card technology, it would seem, is still taking its time to become commonly used in the United States. Our associate’s cousin, we’re told, had to sign his signature for every purchase he made. “I told him that, up here, we insert our cards and just punch in our PINs. That way, if anyone steals our card, they would have to know the PIN number in order to use it. By only having a signature as a way to complete the transaction, you’re more susceptible to fraud,” he told us.

And while our associate admitted that he “felt good” knowing that Canadians are apparently more advanced in this particular area of the business world, he insisted that the United States really needs to get its act together. It seems like the use of chip cards in much the same way Canadians use them is not far off south of the border. At least, this is what has been reported by Kayla Tausche of CNBC in her “’Massive’ Switch To New Credit Cards Ahead” article.

“Consumers can expect a flurry of thick, credit-card-carrying mail as some banks attempt to get high-tech chip cards into their hands before the holidays,” she wrote in October, “The catalyst: A series of high-profile security breaches at U.S. retailers caused an acceleration of a multi-year transition to the chip-and-pin technology.” Evidently, it has become obvious to Americans that chip card technology can help to prevent fraud.

Canadian retailers, as we pointed out earlier, have been enjoying this technology for years. “I think it’s great,” one of our clients mentioned recently, “It’s a lot easier for me and for the customers. It’s quicker because I don’t have to print anything for them to sign. And it’s better for them because they can just punch in some numbers to complete the sale. I’m sure it’s great for avoiding any fraudulent charges too.”

Our client would be right. POS terminals that accept chip cards give customers the peace of mind that fraud is highly unlikely. Are you giving your customers that type of peace of mind? If you are accepting credit cards with a machine that doesn’t allow for the punching in of PIN numbers, then it is certainly time for an upgrade. Even if you do use a machine that accepts such transactions, you may want to look into upgrading to a top-of-the-line terminal.

Canadian POS Corporation offers its customers such terminals. We not only offer top-notch POS machines, but we also offer the most affordable rates in our industry! Make life easy on both yourself and your customers. Give them the opportunity to punch in PIN numbers instead of signing slips to complete their transactions. And give yourself the opportunity to grow your client base with more happy customers in the process.

Give us a call at 1-877-748-2884 today!