Only 42% of small businesses plan to update their terminals to EMV by the October 2015 liability-shift deadline, according to a new survey from Intuit, suggesting that more than half could soon find themselves on the hook for losses due to fraudulent cards used in their stores.

Businesses that are undecided or are not planning to upgrade are also largely in the dark about what that means, according to the survey. A whopping 85% said they're unaware of the financial and legal liabilities they'll be responsible for starting in October. About 86% said they might not be able to handle the financial and legal liabilities for fraudulent card transactions, however.

"The biggest barriers for small businesses to become EMV compliant are cost and lack of time or resources required to research terminals," Eric Dunn, Intuit's senior vice president for payments and commerce solutions, said.