This was how it was until places put in new terminals that refuse swipes from chip cards. Instead, you have to insert the chip portion of your card into a slot (after waiting 10s for the prompt to appear [or it will error out]). Then, you must leave your card in the slot, untouched, for about 20s.<p>The tap terminals have existed in the US for years. Usability was pretty much the same as the swipe method: fast and easy.