With fewer than 20 days until the Oct. 1 liability shift, thevast majority of card issuers, merchants and customers still aren't ready,according to the latest data.

There are 720 million Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaidcards in the United States, according to Rian Boden at NFC World, but as of July 31, less than 18% –126.9 million – Visa chip cards have been issued, the card networktold CU Times.

The one in five consumers who do have Visa EMV cards are likelystill swiping less secure magnetic stripes to make purchases,because just 22% of small and midsize merchants have EMV terminals,according to a new survey published Wednesday by the Austin,Texas-based consulting firm Software Advice.

The survey also found that 23% think EMV terminals areunnecessary.

“While consumers can now spot these new point of sale terminalsat many large retailers nationwide, a quick check of the walletwill confirm that many continue to carry cards secured with theoutdated and vulnerable magnetic stripe,” Brian Dodge, executivevice president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a tradeorganization of more than 200 retailers and 100,000 stores, said.“Simply put, consumers should be outraged that for banks and creditunions the solution to increased cyber-related fraud is toslowly issue substandard cards.”

POS terminals will probably get more expensive but card processing likely won't, according to a study releasedThursday by Andrew Krabeepetcharat, who is a procurement researchanalyst at IBISWorld.

“Fortunately for businesses that have yet to update theirequipment, recent pricing trends in the POS terminal markethave been very favorable during the past three years,” he wrote.“During the period, IBISWorld estimates that prices have fallen1.0% per year on average and experienced minimal volatility. In thecoming years, however, the market for POS terminals will face anupswing in demand due to government regulation and the requirementto accept EMV chip cards.”

He added, “Since 2012, credit card payment processing serviceshave increased about 0.2 percentage points. Fortunately for buyers,the implementation of EMV chip technology will help keep the costof credit card payment processing services from growingstronger.”

Through 2018, price growth is forecast to stay flat, rising only0.2 percentage points, the report said.

The average annual spend on POS systems, including upgrades,rental, maintenance and other fees, was about $189 for the smallbusinesses, according to a study by Intuit in June. Businesses with fewerthan six employees spent the least – 65% paid less than $100 ayear, it found.

As of July 31, about 59% of Visa chip volume took place at smallbusinesses, the card network said.