Banks will be using the EMV chip technology, a new security feature in ATM cards after reports said that the series of ATM frauds cost depositors a whooping P200 million last year.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials on Wednesday said it was about time banks started using EMV chip technology in ATM cards to counter card “cloning” or “skimming."
Bank executives agreed to the proposal and said they will be adopting the technology, which was developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa. EMV has a chip that contains information needed to use the card for payment and is protected by various security features.
Vicente de Villa III, director for BSP’s Supervisory Data Center, said the body had issued Circular No. 808 requiring all banks to shift from the magnetic strip technology to EMV chip technology.
All banks should have issued EMV-capable cards by January 2017, he said.
“The difference between the two is that the information in the magnetic strip is static and permanent, and hence, easy to copy, while EMV chip is more dynamic. Every time you use it, there’s an algorithm being computed,” he said.
The banks also said they will be installing more CCTV cameras and guards on ATM booths.
Last week, police authorities arrested Raphael Marcial, a member of the Presidential Security Group for alleged cloning of ATM cards in Makati City. Recovered from his possession was a scanner device supposedly used to copy ATM cards, as well as cards bearing different names.
In Angeles City, an Italian man, Roberto de Cecco, was caught installing a card-skimming device in an ATM machine in a PSBank branch in the town of Malabanias.--Source: Inquirer.net