The Unintended Consequences of Industry Mandates: How EMV is Changing the U.S. Payments Landscape

Abstract

The 2015 mandate of Europay MasterCard and Visa (EMV) “chip card” technology in the U.S. left the payments market primed for the adoption of alternative technologies. The goal of this study is to determine the factors that contribute to the adoption of new, alternative payment technologies by integrating the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Switching Cost Theory and operationalizing both theories in a consumer context. Through a survey of 210 chip card and mobile payment users, this study finds the TAM dimensions of self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, and social influence are key determinants of a user’s propensity to use a new technology in a mandated consumer context and introduces switching costs as an important antecedent to a consumer’s likelihood to use an alternative payment technology. More generally, this work integrates those theories to gain insight into how industry mandates influence user behavior with regards to consumer acceptance of alternative technologies.