Wal-Mart is now active with its Chip-and-PIn terminals
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has now enabled all of its U.S. stores with terminals to accept chip cards
Other interesting points in the same article:
Wal-Mart enthusiastic about moving toward EMV payments and applauds Chase and Wells Fargo's decision to start issuing them, but is skeptical about their limited issuance. Agreed. It seems that Chase and Wells Fargo assumes only the uber-rich jetsetters travel internationally. Have they considered many people living in Detroit, Buffalo, and Seattle drive across the border to Canada for vacation quite often?
And again, the lame argument " 'Why should [banks] spend $1 or $2 [on EMV cards] if they only get 12 cents back...If you’re a bank, what’s the value of the investment?' ”
What then about considering an optional system where a customer has the option to call their bank to upgrade their card to a hybrid Chip-and-PIN/mag-stripe/RFID card for a nominal fee to cover that issuance cost?
Finally, the point about the cost of changing terminals. "Some 70% to 80% of VeriFone Systems Inc. terminal shipments into retail stores are not EMV-capable...we’re still shipping a lot of terminals without smart card readers,” he told the conference. Cost is the main barrier...large merchants whose names you would recognize are choosing not to install [readers] because of the [incremental] price."
However the counter-argument can be made is that terminals, just like any other machine, has its end of life and by then terminals will become pre-equipped with handing RFID and EMV payments along with mag-stripes.
Just look at 7-Eleven, BestBuy, Staples, and heck even the US Post Office. I see terminals being replaced all over LA with newer terminals as they replace their aging ones. Like upgrading a software, you're not going to see merchants upgrading their computers overnight. It takes time, but as time progresses, there will be more and more merchants using terminals that already come pre-equipped with handling multi-payment processing.