Reluctantly, but back home in the UK it was really good even ten years ago, chip and pin and all that.
Over here in Cascadia it’s been a slow transition but a few years back things started kicking into gear. All my cards now have a chip (although evidently that hasn’t fully stopped things in its tracks). It’s up to each individual store to migrate to a chip reader though. I still come across places that haven’t upgraded yet (I think they’re on the hook if there’s any fraud, I can’t recall, but that’s why most have now migrated) and they do dumb things like sellotaping over the slot you’d insert your card and adding a label “SWIPE ONLY”. Regardless of swipe or insert, you still have to sign (either the printed receipt or often, the screen itself) but nobody ever checks and gives a crap.
NFC is becoming a bit more available here and I always use it whenever it’s an option, Google Pay is really good.
There’s still ways of doing things here that I’m not used to: for example, when I eat out and the bill lands on your table. I seem to recall most restaurants in the UK would bring the card reader to your table and you’d pay that way without ever letting go of your card. In the US I’ve come across a handful of places that do that – Fogo de Chão brings a portable reader to your table, and some places have had a full tablet on the table letting you pay (and buy silly games, order more food etc). 99.9% of places though just whisk my card away out of sight and take payment that way. It always makes me feel uneasy.
Love learning new words, thanks 