The card network quartet is now complete as Discover has become the final brand to announce its intentions to speed up EMV transactions at the point of sale.

Discover said in a press release Quick Chip will reduce the time a chip card needs to remain in the point-of-sale terminal, making the checkout process more convenient for merchants and cardholders. Discover Quick Chip provides merchants and acquirers with an additional option when processing chip card payments.

The Riverwoods, Illinois-based card network said Quick Chip will reduce terminal certification requirements and be compatible with the technical standards offered by other payment networks, so merchants can seamlessly offer cardholders a faster checkout experience across all chip cards they accept.

"Discover is providing this new option in order to offer merchants and cardholders a streamlined checkout experience," said Ellie Smith, head of the Chip Center of Excellence at Discover. "This initiative further expands and complements Discover’s wide range of existing programs that support chip deployment."

American Express, MasterCard and Visa already have announced their intentions to reduce EMV checkout times with similar technology. The move comes after months of complaints from consumers and merchants about the extra time it takes to conduct an EMV transaction versus a magnetic stripe one.