This varies hugely by retailer, though. I'm convinced there's a level of optimization that some just aren't incentivized to do.
When I'm at O'Reilly Auto Parts, the pinpad is beeping at me to remove my card almost the moment I've inserted it. It's shockingly fast. (Then their neolithic-age printer takes 8 more seconds to generate a receipt, but... baby steps!)
I wish whoever set up their system could go show some others how it's done. Because yes, on average, most retailers have abominably slow processing for chip cards.
Yes, in Portland Oregon we have a grocery store called New Seasons that implemented a chip reader system where as soon as you walk up to the checkout you can insert your card, it tells you to remove it immediately and then the clerk continues to ring up your groceries. This might just be the way it works in other parts of the world, but in the US this particular implementation was surprisingly smooth compared to the multi step dance that other retailers require. Don’t insert card until all purchases have been rung up, ok now insert card, do not remove card, move to new screen, but still do not remove card, ok, now remove card, now sign, etc.
In the rest of the world, the customer isn’t standing around waiting for someone else to bag their groceries, so there isn’t a parallelisation possible - you stick your card in once you’ve finished bagging everything.
When I'm at O'Reilly Auto Parts, the pinpad is beeping at me to remove my card almost the moment I've inserted it. It's shockingly fast. (Then their neolithic-age printer takes 8 more seconds to generate a receipt, but... baby steps!)
I wish whoever set up their system could go show some others how it's done. Because yes, on average, most retailers have abominably slow processing for chip cards.