We don’t know about you, but we’d rather not wait for another bank to get compromised before actively seeking out solutions.
BPI and BDO recently experienced troubles with their ATMs, misrecording transactions and displaying false account balances. As a response Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has finally given a hard deadline for all banks to issue EMV chip cards to all their customers.
BSP has set June 30, 2018 as the deadline for all banks’ EMV compliance. This means within a year all bank customers must be given cards with EMV chips. But what is EMV anyway, and how does it work?
EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa. These three companies developed the standard for authenticating card transactions. This standard is used globally.
EMV cards contain microprocessors that provide strong transaction security features. Shifting to EMV gives your accounts increased security, and will help in reducing fraud from counterfeit, lost, or stolen cards. This is because of the chip on the EMV card. Previously, data was stored on the magnetic stripe of credit or debit cards, and this data is static or does not change, making it easy to copy and use by skimmers or fraudsters.
With the EMV card’s microprocessor chip, a new and unique transaction code is generated every time the card is used for payment. This code cannot be reused, so fraudsters cannot make use of your card’s data should they be able to obtain it.
EMV cards use a card dipping mechanism instead of the usual card swiping done with magnetic stripe cards. It takes a little bit longer than swiping, but it’s more secure as in card dipping, the data and validation flows between the card chip and the card issuer directly.
Although EMV is not the ultimate solution or the magic bullet to end all skimming and bank fraud issues, it is effective in minimizing the chances of these, and helps protect your account, notes Security Bank.
To learn more about EMV cards and how you can switch your card to an EMV-enabled one, contact your bank. We have a year to make the shift, but the sooner we comply, the better.
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The BPI fiasco is just a system glitch, but how do you protect your bank account from hackers?
Writer: PAULINE MIRANDA
