In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its Monetary Board has issued a circular containing the guidelines for dropping magnetic strip technology in favor of the more secure EMV chip for ATM debit and prepaid cards.
Credit and ATM cards that rely on the magnetic strip have been susceptible to fraud schemes, including card skimming. In light of this, the BSP had ordered credit card issuers to migrate to the EMV chip technology no later than January 1, 2017.
The recently approved guidelines pertain to proprietary debit cards as well as to cash advance transactions of credit cards made through ATMs. The BSP's latest rules however don't prevent issuers of co-branded cards from adopting safeguards laid down by international payment networks, as in the case of a local bank issuing a debit card whose transactions are accepted by the Mastercard or Visa payment system.
BSP said its latest guidelines are meant to manage risks while the banking system shifts to the EMV chip-enabled technology without disrupting ATM and point-of-sale transactions.
Monetary authorities have given covered banks 60 days from the date of the latest circular to submit their updated EMV migration plans.
source: interaksyon.com
