BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s biggest lender in terms of assets controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, is on track to complete by the end of January the shift to the safer Europay Mastercard Visa cards from the magnetic stripe cards for retail clients.
BDO said in a statement that by Feb. 1, 2018, the bank would have completed the shift to the EMV debit card for customers.
“As a result, the magnetic stripe currently found at the back of the old ATM debit card will be disabled, therefore clients will no longer be able to transact on any ATM and point of sale terminal,” the bank said.
The bank advised clients to get their EMV debit card which became available as early as the third quarter of 2016.
BDO said it made all its ATMs nationwide EMV-certified last year. PoS terminals found in supermarkets, restaurants, shopping malls and other establishments are also converting into EMV.
The regulatory requirement to shift to EMV is a part of the banking industry’s move to provide clients wider protection against fraudulent activities usually carried out in electronic banking channels.
