This week’s EMV “liability shift” in the United States is expected to be a boon for mobile payments. We are undergoing a massive expansion in number of NFC-enabled terminals, at a time when Apple and Android Pay are not only measurably faster than the more time-consuming “chip dip”, but also more secure. That’s a HUGE change in the “relative UX” between the two options.
Savvy issuers should seize on the negative publicity and confusion around EMV plastic cards and push NFC options, both within the native app and on desktop and mobile websites.
But from what I saw today during a tour of several dozen major bank and credit union mobile sites (using iPhone 6), very little is discussed about this change. In fact, none of the 25 largest banks address it on their mobile homepages. I finally found one mid-sized credit union that addressed EMV (First Tech Federal Credit Union) and another that mentioned Apple Pay, albeit a few screens down (Stanford Federal Credit Union), but neither of them addressed both issues (see screenshots below). Both CUs have responsive homepages, so the messaging was the same on both the desktop and mobile web.
Most issuers address basic EMV questions when sending new chip-cards to customers. But I’m guessing that:
number of cardholders who read the EMV instructions
x
the number that understood it
x
the number that remember it
=
zero
This is a good opportunity to get your cardholders on board with Apple Pay and Android Pay. And don’t forgot to help them understand how to make your card the default in the Apple Wallet (previously called Passbook). Refer to Capital One’s email explanation sent to cardholders after adding their card (screenshot below).
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Mobile website homepages from Stanford Federal Credit Union (left) and First Tech FCU (right)
As seen on iPhone 6 at noon, 28 Sep 2015
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Capital One email sent to cardholder minutes after adding card to Apple Pay and authorizing through Capital One mobile app (28 Sep 2015)
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We will be addressing issues in EMV, mobile payments, and much more at Finovate’s second annual developers’ event, FinDEVr, 6/7 October in San Francisco.