GLOBAL STANDARD: EMV chip card adoption around the world. Click to enlarge.

Some 32% of all chip card-present transactions conducted globally between January and December 2014 used the EMV chip card standard, EMVCo has revealed, with adoption of EMV payment cards increasing in every region worldwide to total 3.4bn by the end of last year.

EMVCo’s Europe Zone 1 region, broadly Western Europe, maintained the highest percentage of EMV chip transactions, which accounted for nearly 97% of card-present payments. Over 85% of card-present transactions were EMV chip-enabled in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, while in Africa and the Middle East, the figure was 80%.

EMV chip technology continued to gain ground in Europe Zone 2 (broadly the CIS states) and Asia, where EMV chip transactions accounted for 58% and 27% of card-present payments respectively. In contrast, in the US just 0.12% of transactions were EMV chip-based, up from 0.03% in November.

“With an additional one billion EMV chip cards issued in 2014 and cumulative transaction volumes climbing in every region last year, it is clear from the data released today that the global rollout of EMV chip technology is progressing at a healthy pace,” says Tac Watanabe, executive committee chair at EMVCo.

In Europe Zone 1, the EMV chip card adoption rate reached 83.5%, up from 81.6% in 2013. In Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean the adoption rate hit 59.5%, up from 54.2% in 2013, and in Africa and the Middle East adoption hit 50.5%, up from 38.9% in 2013.

“From a regional perspective, the highest volumes of EMV transactions are occurring in regions with a significant base of deployed EMV cards and established acceptance infrastructures,” adds Sean Conroy, chair of the EMVCo board of managers.

“We are, however, pleased to note a significant acceleration of card issuance in the US throughout the course of last year. We are aware that the US merchant and acquiring communities are actively enabling their acceptance environments and platforms to support EMV transactions and anticipate further advances will be made in this market throughout 2015.”

The data includes both contact and contactless transactions and represents the latest statistics from American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay, and Visa.