Since 2013, the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has directed all banks to start issuing the EMV chip enabled payment cards to their clients to replace the traditional magnetic striped payment cards. The deadline to migrate to the EMV chip enabled ATM card was on January I, 2017, but card holders of the magnetic stripe ATM card were still allowed to use their card until the second quarter of 2018. After June 30, 2018, the magnetic stripe ATM card will be deactivated, and the holders of it must migrate to the new EMV chip card to continue their bank transactions. When the policy will be fully implemented, the use of the card is essential specially to those who received their money such as pensions and salaries from the government or private institutions through ATMs.
The EMV(Europay, Mastercard and Visa) is the global standard for credit, debit and prepaid card payment using the chip card technology. The reason is that EMV chip enabled card is more secure than the magnetic stripe card since the code in the latter is static or unchanging, and it is easy for a fraudster to use simple skimming device to copy information from legitimate ATM card. With the EMV chip technology the code continuously changes for every transaction so that it makes it difficult for a fraudster to copy accurate information from EMV enabled card.
The EMV chip enabled ATM card is also a debit card so that I can carry out bank transactions in a much better way than those with the use of my old magnetic stripe ATM card. The EMV card is a tool for my cashless transactions. With it I can make bank deposits, purchase goods or services in stores or other business establishments where payment cards are accepted, pay bills, withdraw money from ATMs, or make purchases online or on the phone via email. And since it is a debit card my purchases or cash withdrawals are limited to the balance of money I have in my bank’s saving account. And unlike using my credit card, I can’t purchase goods on credit with my EMV enabled ATM card.
Most ATM debit cards In the Philippines are supported by the Visa and Master Card Companies which are international debit or credit card issuers, and because of it these debit cards are highly acceptable anywhere in the Philippines or even overseas where the logos of these companies that the cards bear are recognized to make a valid transaction..
