Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

Another concern that Wal-Mart—and others—have raised is the security weakest link belief. In essence, that belief argues that cyberthieves will start to shy away from countries using EMV and move more of that fraud to the more easily defrauded mag-stripe cards. That possibility coupled with the deep pockets of the U.S., and America could become even more of a fraud target—unless the U.S. adopts Chip-and-PIN.

Henry commented on that trend when answering a question about the U.S. Senate’s efforts this week to pass financial regulatory legislation that is supported by retail lobbyists and strongly opposed by lobbyists representing the card brands. Part of the bill would add government oversight—and presumably restrictions—on the interchange rates charged to retailers.

Henry said he believed the interchange reform bill, if made into law, would actually help EMV get adopted in the U.S. because it will give the card brands a strong financial incentive. “I think it will push toward the technology because it is more secure. [Card brands] won’t be able to push the fraud expense into the merchants.” It’s not clear that the bill, if made into law, would prevent those fraud expenses. But it’s likely the government oversight would make such charges more difficult.

For the moment, Wal-Mart doesn’t accept EMV (in the U.S.), contactless payment nor, for that matter, loyalty cards. Henry was asked why his chain does not currently accept contactless.

“A business case hasn’t been made yet to make [contactless] interesting to us,” he said. “When the business model is right, we are more than willing to move forward.”

Another participant on Henry’s panel was Richard Mader, the executive director of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS). Mader agreed with Wal-Mart that retailers need to go to an EMV approach, but he said how exactly to get there is less clear.

“Retailers need a clear roadmap. What is the right path?” Mader asked. “Is it going to be associated with mobile? Perhaps existing cards with PIN so you don’t have to change everything?”

It seems clear now that the U.S. will eventually make the move to EMV. When Wal-Mart and even a few of the other largest chains insist on the move, there’s little that can be done to stop it. But even then, it’s going to take years to make the transition. Like so many other elements of security technology, there’s a fine chance that EMV protections—such as they are—may be obsolete by the time the U.S. completes the move.

Still, it’s the better choice for security and convenience, and the sooner retailers start down that path, the better. And if one chain will lead that movement, no one is better than Wal-Mart. After all, when you have $405 billion in annual sales, you somehow tend to always get the last word.