Chip card technology has been the most far-reaching change to payments in the last 60 years in the U.S. While nearly 1/3 of all businesses now accept chip cards, the fuel segment has its own unique challenges. The EMV migration deadline for gas stations was recently extended from October 2017 to October 2020.

“Switching over gas pumps is much more difficult and expensive than switching over registers. There are about 800,000 pumps needing to be upgraded, and there aren’t nearly enough people to install the new systems,” commented Gray Taylor, executive director at Alexandria, Vir.-based Conexxus, an industry association for the petroleum industry.

However, fuel stations should still stay on top of their upgrade plans, and take additional efforts to prevent fraud.