Went back to Albertson's again and tried to use my EMV-enabled card. Got "Card Read Error" first couple of times I swiped, then I inserted it into the slot. Nothing was on the screen after a few seconds, so I removed it. It said "Transaction Cancelled" briefly before it told me to swipe again. Swiped and it worked fine. I'm going to guess it's not active there yet even though the slot's lit up.

My current theory is that businesses that take contactless are more likely to take EMV as well (though nowhere near guaranteed). Mastercard has a locator tool over at http://www.mastercard.com/contactless/index.html that may help. :)

New liquor store near where I live (with the Citi HHonors Signature Visa):

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/1...eb90405b16.jpg
receipt by lordsutch, on Flickr

Swiped the card and the FirstData terminal (which looked like the ones in kebosabi's first post, including contactless and a EMV slot) said "insert or tap card." Put card in slot, and it went through, much to the fascination of the clerk.

Also used it at a Walmart checkout with a slot, but when I swiped the card there the terminal didn't insist I stick it in the slot, so presumably the slot wasn't active or Walmart has programmed the terminal not to force use of the chip.

It's funny that liquor stores are becoming one of the first ones to adopt them.

Not at all, I imagine that decision is being made by acquirers who are acutely aware of what businesses are most likely to have fraud issues.

AMEX Everyday Preferred Chip/Sig Receipt
 

At a local swim school in Alameda in the Bay Area...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/122156913@N04/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/122156913@N04

I've used one of those First Data terminals as shown in this thread with my Canadian Chip & (Offline) PIN card... the receipt looks the same as those posted with it additionally saying 'PIN Verified' at the bottom.

EMV is enabled at what I refer to as the nice Walmart here in Missoula, MT (the one where the staff aren't aholes..., on Brooks street if you're ever in Missoula). I didn't try self-checkout though. According to a friend there, they got instructions on their clock-in slip yesterday for how to run EMV transactions.

The big Walmart Supercenter ran by some of the rudest, most arrogant people I have ever had the misfortune of encountering does NOT have EMV enabled.

Walmart in Garner NC had EMV on. I couldn't slide my card, I had to use EMV.

That is the expected behaviour, otherwise EMV would offer zero benefit.

EMV is now activated at one of the WalMarts in Atlanta. Cashier didn't seem surprised that I paid that way (I didn't even try to swipe), though she did ask if I had an international card.

Yesterday, the cashier was much less surprised (I know y'all prolly think of me as low class for going to Walmart so much... but it's one of the closest grocery stores to my home, and the others are ridiculously overpriced). There are a great number of international students at the University I attend, which is nearby. While I imagine most are using their local debit cards (usually set up with a credit union that's a bit of a ripoff that is located on campus...), I bet there's enough that chip transactions won't be rare nor will the average person be confused.

Now, my next test is to try a self-checkout purchase and see if they're chip enabled too... maybe tomorrow.

Nah. If you're a frugal living millennial like most of us in our generation, we buy at the cheapest place possible. Getting finances in order is part of our generations' specialty thanks to student loan debt and a crappy job market. I go from anywhere from Trader Joes to Dollar General, from Gerson's to 99 cents store, from Bristol Farms to Food 4 Less. :D

If there was a Wal-Mart near my place, I'd go there often too. There are three Wal-Marts in my area, but all three of them are a bit too far off from my usual sphere of activity areas. My closest one is a Ralphs (3 of them in a five mile radius) and a Costco.

I'm going to Walmart tomorrow for an eye exam, they had an opening at a convenient time and are the same price as Costco. Hope it's decent, I'll be curious if their optometrist uses EMV as well... LOL

Wal-Mart in New Castle Delaware *just* turned on EMV. I was there a few days ago and it didn't work. Today I swiped and it told me to insert.

This was at the self-checkout with B/W terminals. I didn't even know they had a card slot. It's not obvious. I had to lean down a bit to see where to put the card.

http://i.imgur.com/2fnnAa3.jpg

This is far from a tourist area.