Nearly all U.S. ATMs — 91% — are now EMV-capable, and 86% actively accept chip-on-chip transactions, according to new data from the ATM Industry Association.

The change in active EMV acceptance represents a significant spike from an estimated 19% at the beginning of 2016 and 58% at the beginning of 2017, the trade group said in its 2018 EMV Migration Survey.

“The progress made toward EMV migration in the ATM channel over the past few years is actually quite impressive, particularly when compared to that of retail merchants, which currently stands at only about 50%, even considering their earlier liability shift dates,” ATMIA reported.

The 5% gap between current EMV capability and active chip acceptance represents lags in certification and testing, it noted.

“By comparison, the 2016 survey showed about a 20% gap between the number of ATMs that were EMV capable versus those accepting EMV transactions,” the report said.

Back in 2014, a similar survey projected that ATM operators would have to replace about 13% of terminals to get EMV compliant, but the new survey data showed that ATM operators have actually had to replace about one in every five ATMs (19%).

ATMIA said it has been measuring EMV progress among ATMs for several years because ATM operators have become liable for fraudulent card transactions made on ATMs aren't EMV-compliant. A similar EMV liability shift is brewing for gas station automated fuel dispensers in 2020.

House of cards

The EMV transition in the ATM industry hasn't been completely smooth, according to the survey.

“ATMIA also questioned respondents about other issues and challenges they face in a post-migration environment. Regular problems with EMV cards and EMV readers, 10% and 11% respectively, would seem to indicate lingering technical issues with these components. Earlier problems with misrouted transactions, though, seem to have greatly diminished,” ATMIA reported.

Only 27% of the respondents in the survey said they have not had any transaction issues that were attributed to bad, faulty or defective EMV cards. Independent ATM deployers (IADs) appear to experience more trouble with EMV cards than financial institution ATMs do, though.

Of those ATM operators saying they have not experienced any card issues, 78% were financial institutions; 74% of IADs said they had trouble with bad cards occasionally or regularly. Less than half that number of financial institutions experienced the issue. In addition, 59% of respondents said they had regular or occasional transaction issues related to bad, faulty or defective EMV card readers.

The next phase

The survey results suggested that ATM operators may need to take a breather before thinking about more upgrades. In particular, incorporating mobile wallets with ATM transactions doesn't appear to be a high priority for ATM operators at this time. A full 64% of respondents said they aren't considering upgrading any of their ATMs to NFC card readers, and another 17% said they were considering doing it only for a small portion. Only 3% said there were considering implementing biometric authentication.

ATMIA said it expects ATM functionality and transaction volume to increase in the next few years thanks to efforts to drive more teller transactions to ATMs and initiatives to include transactions that do not require a bank account.

“Every survey in this series has been quite informing,” ATMIA U.S. Executive Director David Tente said. “However, this one in particular demonstrates what an impressive job our industry has done – despite the technical challenges and other difficulties we have faced throughout the entire process.”

Instant Insights /

Virtually All U.S. ATMs Now EMV-Ready

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