About 2 weeks ago, while I was trying to withdraw funds from my savings account, my ATM card was captured by the machine. I called my bank immediately to report the incident and was told to wait by the machine in case it spews my card back out. It didn’t. Finally, the agent asked me if my ATM is EMV-enabled. I was not familiar with the term; she said an EMV-enabled card must have a chip embedded in it.
I said, no. My card was the regular card with the magnetic strip at the back. She then proceeded to explain that my card was not captured by accident. The machine that I used was calibrated to capture and destroy ATM cards that are not EMV-enabled. All I need to do now is visit a branch of my bank and request for a new ATM card, one that has the EMV chip.
What is an EMV chip and why are banks encouraging its depositors to switch to this new technology?
Since we are on the subject of identity fraud and all these types of personal information security, we decided to feature the five reasons why it is important to have all your ATM cards changed to the EMV-enabled version.
EMV, or Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, provide added security for credit and debit card users. This is especially important if you like purchasing online where all your payment information is made available for just about anyone to intercept. The EMV makes “swiping” cards a thing of the past; the term often used now is “insert your card” so the machine could read the EMV.
So why have all your ATM cards changed to EMV cards? Read this!
- EMV allows more secure card-present transactions.
EMV smart cards offer better transaction security to all parties involved in the payment process. While traditional magnetic stripe cards store all of your information in a single magnetic stripe (and a simple swipe is all it needs to complete a transaction), it also makes it easier for skimmers to intercept this information to create clones of your card.
EMV cards store your information in microprocessor smart chips that are encrypted to protect your data. Unlike the magnetic stripe cards that leave all your card information available to just about anyone after a swipe, EMV chips make it more difficult to acquire and copy your data. Encrypted information requires a certain technology in order for all stored data to be duplicated.
EMV cards also have various options for cardholder verification, unlike the magnetic cards where merchants only rely on your signature and any valid ID you can present – both can be copied and faked.
- EMV supports contact, contactless, and mobile transaction types.
EMV technology enables contactless transactions where cardholders tap their cards against the terminal.
Contact payments, such as the ones done in grocery counters, require the card to be inserted into the terminal for the duration of the transaction.
A more advanced feature of the EMV technology is the fast mobile wallet payment which allows customers to wave their smartphones over a terminal rather than dipping or tapping a card to a terminal.
- EMV is a global standard.
The Banko Sentral has ordered banks to issue EMV cards to all clients by June 2018. This is a hard deadline that all banks must implement among its depositors. If your ATM is not yet EMV-enabled, go visit your bank immediately to avoid the rush.
- Better information storage.
Since EMV chips are capable of storing more of your personal information, your identity as the owner and user of the card is likewise broader. Unlike when using a magnetic stripe card where merchants only rely on your signature as proof of your identity, an EMV-enabled card provides more options to ensure that the card being used for the transaction is not stolen or duplicated.
- EMV systems can operate in offline mode.
EMV cards can perform offline transaction verification and offline cardholder verification. This is one of the breakthroughs of the EMV technology that makes the magstripe cards look like play money. EMV terminals can be configured to accept offline PIN codes, improving transaction security without requiring an online connection to banking systems.
If your card is not yet EMV-enabled, contact your bank now and ask how you can have your cards replaced with new ones. If your old card gets captured in an ATM, don’t panic! If your card is still magstripe, chances are it was captured more for your protection than anything else. 🙂
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