PH Banks May Shift to EMV-based Cards Earlier Than Expected

Contrary to what was previously reported, local financial institutions are reported to make the switch to EMV-based ATM and credit cards sooner than what was mandated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which is due on January 2017.

In an interview with BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. with ABS-CBN, he mentioned that the local banks are “motivated” to upgrade to the new security standard in an effort to further lessen, if not totally eliminate fraudulent acts against their respective patrons.

As mentioned on our previous post, the main advantage of EMV-based cards over its predecessor is the information on magnetic strip on the former is dynamic as opposed to static. This added level of complexity makes it more challenging for hackers and skimmers to copy the information on the card.

Espenilla also noted that though the upgrade will likely cost the banks a good amount of money, it will prove to be more cost-effective in the long run since they are less likely to deal with fraud-related incidents which, he stressed out during the interview, should be shouldered the bank.

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