Still Swiping Chip Cards? It May Be Time for an Upgrade

If customers regularly swipe their chip-enabled credit cards instead of inserting or tapping them, your payment terminal could be trying to tell you something.

A swipe on an EMV chip card is called a fallback transaction. While occasional fallback transactions happen, frequent chip-read failures often point to aging equipment, damaged readers, or terminal configuration issues.

Visa recommends merchants monitor fallback activity because it bypasses many of the security benefits of EMV technology (Visa, Managing Fallback Transactions). In addition, payment networks continue to discourage excessive avoidable fallback transactions, which may result in additional network fee assessments depending on the card brand and payment processor.

Signs It May Be Time to Upgrade

• Customers still swipe chip cards

• Your terminal doesn't accept tap-to-pay

• Chip read errors happen frequently

• Your payment equipment is several years old

Modern payment terminals do more than process transactions. They improve security, support contactless payments, reduce checkout delays, and help businesses stay current with evolving payment standards.

Your payment terminal should do more than process transactions—it should help protect your business, improve the customer experience, and support future growth. If customers are still swiping chip cards, it may be time to explore an upgrade.

If you're unsure whether your equipment is operating the way it should, Superior Financial Systems can help.

Schedule a Complimentary Payment Review

Sales

866 - 601 - 2733 x103

info@sfsprocessing.com

Merchant Support

866 - 601 - 2733 (Option 1)

merchantsupport@sfsprocessing.com

www.sfsprocessing.com

Sources: Visa, "Managing Fallback Transactions"; Digital Transactions, "EMV at 10."