At the same time some of the inherent limitations of EMV are surfacing. Though EMV has been effective in reducing mail-non-receipt and lost-and-stolen card fraud, it has had minimal effect on other types of fraud, particularly card-not-present and counterfeit/overseas fraud. Actually, Mercator points out, EMV’s effectiveness in reducing certain types of card fraud appears to have driven criminals toward other types of card fraud.

“Demand for EMV products and services will continue to be driven by the SEPA initiative in Western Europe, though emerging markets in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe have good potentials as well,” says Terry Xie, director of Mercator Advisory Group”s International Payments Advisory Service. “China is finally moving as China UnionPay starts to replace its POS terminals, but the U.S. is still on the sidelines though neighbor pressure from Canada and Mexico could start to break the ice.”