Canada's expected shift to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications could lead to a surge in demand for pay-at-the-table terminals from restaurants, according to Ingenico SA.
Canada is expected to shift to EMV by October of next year; the format requires consumers to enter PINs when they use their cards.
Chris Justice, the French terminal company's president for North America, said the change means diners will need to enter their PINs at the table where they typically hand over their cards. This practice is already common in Europe, where EMV is in widespread use, and Justice said Canada will likely follow suit.
"EMV in Canada is the big push and I don't believe that enough people have paid attention to it," he said. "Getting that infrastructure done today will pay huge benefits going forward."
