The Mobile Wallet is Superior to Chip & PIN. Here's Why.

 

While mobile wallet technology presents one of the safest ways to spend, it’s still not being embraced as fully as chip and PIN. But is that set to change?

Banks have recently changed their stance on credit card fraud by protection. They’re increasingly leaving merchants to handle the fallout of fraudulent charges. So merchants have been upping their game in terms of card equipment, upgrading to chip and PIN readers to deliver more secure checkouts for customers.

But there’s a major drawback to chip-enabled credit cards - speed - or the lack of it. Chip and PIN payments are slow to process. For food service providers and retailers everywhere, being able to deliver lightning-fast, convenient service for customers really counts.

That’s where mobile wallet tech is really superior to Chip and PIN.

Why are Chip-Enabled Cards So Slow?

Slide a chip & PIN credit card into the card reader and the chip generates a one-time code that is sent to the bank over a secure network. Once the bank has confirmed this code it sends verification back to the card reader at the point of sale. The customer’s purchase then completes and they’re free to go with their goods or services.

Chip-enabled cards may be speedier than older payment alternatives, but they’re slower than mobile wallet payments. Taking up to 10 extra seconds to process, chip & PIN credit cards can cause delays at checkouts. Employees and customers become frustrated by slow processing, when it seems to take forever for that receipt to print, and fewer customers can check out in a day.

While the enhanced protection of chip and PIN is great, there are better solutions out there.

Speedy Mobile Wallet Solutions: Apple Pay and Samsung Pay

Customers paying with their smartphones can beat that 10 second chip & PIN delay with mobile wallet apps. While Android Pay still takes around seven seconds to process, with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay we’re talking only three seconds to process a transaction. Mobile wallet processing times of only 2.4 seconds have also been recorded.

The lengthier chip & PIN payment process is mainly taken up by the time it takes to insert your card, wait until the transaction is approved before signing, and then remove your card again. The processing itself is fast. With mobile wallet apps, all you need to do is tap and scan. It’s a faster, more streamlined payment process. Although not every merchant accepts Android Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay yet, so customers need to look out for logos on cash registers or do some research ahead of time to see where these payments are accepted.

At the moment, the most readily available mobile wallet option is Samsung Pay, because it utilises magnetic secure transmission. This technology produces a magnetic signal that works like the magnetic strip that we’re used to on cards. The bonus for merchants and consumers here is that it means most credit card machines can read it. Right now more banks accept Apple Pay than Samsung Pay or Android Pay. The advantage of Android Pay is its flexibility - as well as operating on Android devices, it can also operate on Samsung phones, iPhones and Apple Watch.