BDO to complete 1st phase of shift to EMV in Feb

The country’s leading lender BDO Unibank expects to complete by Feb. 1 the migration to more secure EMV cards for its first batch of retail clients.

EMV or (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) chip-enabled cards have enhanced features that verify transactions made on card, limiting cases of card-present fraud incidents and identity theft. This replaces cards that were originally magnetic swipe cards.

BDO’s first batch of clients includes the bulk of local retail account-holders. The second batch of clients will include clients based overseas and those holding payroll accounts.

As a result, the magnetic stripe currently found at the back of the old ATM debit card will be disabled, which means clients will no longer be able to transact on any ATM and point of sale (PoS) terminal.

The bank has been advising clients to replace old cards with EMV cards since these became available in the third quarter of 2016.

Clients who still have the magnetic stripe cards are encouraged to have them replaced at the branches on or before Jan. 31.

BDO has made all its ATMs nationwide EMV-certified last year. PoS terminals in supermarkets, restaurants, shopping malls and other establishments are also converting to EMV.

The regulatory requirement to shift to EMV or the Europay Mastercard Visa is part of the banking industry’s move to provide clients wider protection against fraudulent activities usually carried out in electronic banking channels.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has ordered banks to issue all customers with EMV chip-enabled cards until June 30 this year or face penalties.

BDO, which is led by the SM group, has one of the largest distribution networks among Philippine banks, with more than 1,100 operating branches and over 3,600 ATMs nationwide. It also has 26 overseas remittance and representative offices.