• Chip and PIN

• Chip and PIN: the benefits
• Getting started with chip
• Handling chip cards
• Troubleshooting tips
• Advice for UK retailers
• UK retailers' experience

• Contactless payments

• Self-service card acceptance terminals

• V PAY

UK retailers' experience

At the end of 2005, Visa Europe commissioned the Centre for Retail Research to carry out a survey into the attitudes of retailers to chip and PIN.

Six hundred UK retailers were interviewed. Those surveyed were IT managers, operations managers and shop owners working across large, medium and small retail outlets.

The retailer experience of chip and PIN (PDF format, 419 kB) – read the full report from this survey, produced by the Centre for Retail Research

Key findings

• Overall chip and PIN has enjoyed widespread support across the retail community with 96 per cent of retailers saying that they would recommend it to retailers yet to embrace the new technology
• 81 per cent of retailers said that they found it easier to use
• Retailers believe that chip and PIN has saved them £7 million per week, which is more than £365 million per annum for the entire retail sector

Key insights

Chip and PIN has meant:

• No need for staff discretion on which cards to accept (72.6 per cent)
• Cost savings (67.9 per cent)
• Smaller retailers seem more modern (67.3 per cent)
• Staff have fewer concerns about bogus credit and debit cards (66.8 per cent)
• Lower chargebacks from banks (62.2 per cent)
• Faster transactions leading to better service (62 per cent). This was felt to have saved over 55 hours per week for a normal supermarket – an estimated £24 million nationwide per annum
• Improved checkout procedures (58.3 per cent)

As consumer confidence in chip and PIN grows, retailers have noticed an increase in the number of card transactions taking place. Overall the average increase in card usage was estimated at five per cent.

Benefits for staff

• The chip and PIN system has been easier to learn than expected with staff training taking an average of just 1.1 hours
• 91.2 per cent of respondents said it has made cashing up much easier and is generally less hassle than the previous system (67.3 per cent)
• It has also increased customer interaction and improved perceptions of customer service