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The rollout of banking cards and terminals complying with the international EMV chip card standard appears to be accelerating, according to figures released to CardLine Global sister publication Cards&Payments by EMVCo, which maintains the standard. Banks and card companies worldwide issued 208 million EMV-compliant cards during the 15 months ended 31 March. EMVCo did not report earlier comparative data, but the organization says banks and card companies issued 116 million during 2006. Deployment of EMV payment terminals and ATMs also increased through 2007 and during the first three months of 2008. Banks and other acquirers, along with merchants, deployed 4.1 million EMV terminals during the 15 months ended 31 March compared with 1.3 million in 2006, EMVCo says. Going further back, the rates of card issuance and terminal deployment were higher during 2007 and the first three quarters of 2008 than they were in 2006 and during the second half of 2005. The figures include replaced cards and terminals. EMVCo does not break down its figures by region, but according to sales reports from vendors, most of the cards and terminals during 2007 and the first three months of 2008 likely were issued and deployed in Europe. But banks, card companies and merchants in Asia and Latin America also have been rolling out EMV. The EMVCo figures come from Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide and Japan's JCB Co., the company's three owners. The statistics also take in the separate Visa Europe organization, affiliated with Visa Inc. Banks in such major European markets as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Turkey have been rolling out EMV cards broadly during the past 15 months or earlier. Major economies that have converted at least 50% of card terminals to EMV in Europe as of 31 March include the UK, France, Italy and Spain, according to MasterCard's European office. Turkey and Poland, among other countries in Europe, also have had major terminal rollouts under way, says MasterCard. All told, banks and card companies affiliated with Visa, MasterCard and JCB as of 31 March issued 730 million EMV cards since the EMV standard was adopted about 10 years ago. Some 9.9 million payment terminals and ATMs globally supported EMV as of the end of March.
