Same with the magnetic strip cards now. Most places that process a lot of cards have the cardholder swipe their own card. It's rare to hand your card to a clerk anymore.
I don't think it's about speed. Most clerks can swipe a card faster than customers who don't know the technique that works best on the machine. I think it's about security, as [Username He Is Using This Month] says..
The difference is the data that the business gets. With a swiped card, they get to keep all the data in their file. With the chip, they don't have enough data to process again. Since you use a separate terminal, and not the cash register, the processors can keep them from getting full details. In fact, it was one of the first complaints... they were using your CC number to track your purchases with them.
One professor managed to show them that they could do the same thing with just the last four digits and the expiration data... which is what many of them are doing now. It's despicable.
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