NEW YORK – Cashiers have always been important to retailers as the ones who complete the sale, but their role has become even more significant with the transfer to EMV technology, Payments Source reports. Merchants should focus on training these frontline workers to ensure they are comfortable with chip-card payments—whether or not the store currently accepts EMV payments.

While the United Kingdom and Canada have conducted large-scale marketing efforts to inform the public about the new chip cards, the United States has yet to do so. This means that the American public doesn’t know much about the migration to EMV terminals or payment.

Consumers haven’t been schooled enough in why EMV technology is more secure or how to use the new chip cards, even though banks have mailed hundreds of thousands of these cards to holders. Couple that with many retailers still not ready to read chip cards, and you have a recipe for disaster at the checkout counter.

This underscores the need for retailers to incorporate training of cashiers in both how to process chip cards and how to respond to customer inquiries about the new cards. This knowledge-sharing will help consumers acclimate quickly to the EMV cards and help retailers provide a smoother transaction process.