Checking out at the grocery store could soon get 18 seconds faster. Visa announced Tuesday that it's finally upgrading its chip-enabled credit card software, reducing that long wait between inserting your card in the machine and waiting for your transaction to go through before taking it out. Now, instead of waiting around for what feels like forever, shoppers will be able to quickly dip their card and remove it in as little as two seconds, and they'll also have the option of dipping their cards before the cashier is finished ringing them up.
The upgrade addresses sweeping complaints from customers and retailers alike who were used to the convenience and speed of the quick swipe of a card. Walmart, for instance, faced such significant slowdowns that it took it upon itself to reduce transaction times by removing a prompt for customers to confirm a purchase amount, which saved 11 seconds.
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