Originally Posted by
reclusive46
Its probably more likely to do with the fact that UA won't meet the liability shift deadline, so it doesn't want to be paying counterfeit fraud on its own card (although the issuer would benefit from this from less fraud costs it wouldn't make a very good relationship).
The Harrods Amex in the UK got a chip years after every other Amex because of a similar reason.
That is my suspicion too, and it really reduces my already low level of respect for United/Star Alliance.