January 23, 2015 - With only nine months to go until the US EMV migration deadline, more than half of retailers are not ready for the switch, according to a survey from ACI Worldwide.

US merchants are having to upgrade millions of payment terminals as the country finally makes the shift from magstripe-based card payments. Those that don't make the cut-off by October will be liable for fraudulent purchases.

Of more than 100 retailers polled by ACI Worldwide at a conference earlier this month, just 12% are already compliant, while 14% admit to still having work to do ahead of the deadline, 19% say they are not prepared, and 22% are still "evaluating their options".

The survey, which questioned technology professionals as well as retailers, found that last year's spate of high profile data breaches have seen 39% of respondents increase investments in payment security initiatives, while another 20% plan to follow suit in the next year or two.

Lynn Holland, VP, ACI Worldwide, says: "Data breaches are top-of-mind for retailers, which have already or are planning to increase payment security spending, yet a sizable number of those surveyed are not fully prepared for meeting EMV timelines."

The top areas for investment outside of security are expected to be in omni-channel sales/seamless customer experience, cited by 37%, mobile payments acceptance technology, 20%, and e-commerce, 20%.

Meanwhile, Apple is expected to be the big mobile payments winner, with 47% of those quizzed predicting that it will emerge as the dominant player, ahead of Google on 21% and PayPal on 15%.