Facilitating My Bank Transactions with the EMV Chip Enabled ATM Card

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..

Doing Business with a Debit Card

Debit card is a plastic card that allows user to withdraw cash from financial institutions or purchase items from merchants with the cost charged directly to his bank account. It is a convenient instrument for a person to do business or personal activities. It is a paperless bank account on which a bank issues a card instead of a passbook to its client. Aside from making deposit to his debit card account, the user can make payment to another person or institution or receive payment or deposit on his saving account through his card.                                               

Like ATM card, a debit card can also be used by its holder to withdraw money from bank’s ATM. A debit card issued by one bank can withdraw money from another bank’s ATM if both of them are connected with interbank ATM networks such as Express, MegaLink and BancNet.  In the Philippines, the major electronic fund transfer facilitators are Visa and MasterCard. Banks that issue debit card carry the brand of those two international companies on their cards. The Visa or the MasterCard brands and the connectivity of debit card to bank networks allow the holder to use his debit card locally or even abroad.                                                                                                                                                                   

Cashless shopping or payment is the main convenient feature of debit card in financial transactions. A debit card can be used to pay utilities, groceries, restaurant or other bills to merchants that accept such form of payment. A cashier swipes the card in an electronic authorization device at the point of sale.  Sometimes a separate PINpad to enter the PIN is used. But in some establishments there is no need to do it.

Both debit and credit cards can be used to shop online. There are some advantages in buying items online because in some cases they are cheaper than what can be bought physically at local stores. Manufacturers and merchants who have large inventories of unsold, overstocked and discontinued items find online stores as convenient place to sell them off. To attract buyers, these items are offered for sale at a very huge discount. Since the items are still very usable, online shoppers are attracted to them because of their low price. Furthermore, some old and hard to find items at the local stores might only be available online. And the debit card and credit card may come in handy to acquire those much desired items. However, the purchase of the debit card holder is limited to the amount of his bank savings account balance while a credit card holder purchases are limited to the range of his line of credit. The credit card holder therefore has more leverage in purchasing online items. He can even buy them in installment basis with interest.

Using a debit card is in essence a cash transaction while using a credit card is virtually an acquisition of goods or services on short term loan. And since credit card purchases may not be backed up with the user’s bank account, the items are usually charged with interest. Since the debit card holder spends only what he has in his bank account, there is only little risk that he may go into an unmanageable debt. On the other hand a credit card holder may be tempted to go on an uncontrollable shopping spree that may put him in future dire financial straits. 

                                                                                                                                

Almost always, one needs to have money in his possession since debit or credit card alone won’t be able to pay for anything. But with a debit card, he may not have to bring along with him huge amount of it. Money that is lost will be gone forever, while a lost debit card can be replaced with a new one. The user will just have to report the incident to his bank which will then deactivate the card to prevent transaction that will be made by unauthorized persons.

Union Bank's EON Visa Debit Card, a Convenient Tool to Shop Online

I have an EON Visa Debit Card which I acquired from Cagayan de Oro Union Bank branch which is near my residence. By linking it with my PayPal account, I find this debit card a handy tool to do online transactions which are mostly purchases of goods at eBay.  

An EON Visa Debit Card in the Philippines is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access on his bank account at a financial institution such as bank. It is similar to credit card because it can be used to buy goods and withdraw cash at ATMs that are linked to interbank network such as MegaLink and Plus. The difference between a credit card and a debit card is that the former can purchase goods on credit such as buying TV on installment while debit card cannot. Charges on debit card are drawn directly from the cardholder’s savings account for the transactions that he made. In other words, expenses incurred through debit card are essentially cash transaction.                                                                                                                                              

It would be more practical for people to buy goods that are available in the local stores than in the internet. But some goods that are not available locally, and there are others that are not in circulation anymore. Or it may be that the cost of a brand new item is too prohibitive for a person to buy so that purchase of conditioned second hand or used items is a good option. eBay is a venue where a person can buy brand new, used or hard-to-find items of any kind. The downside of online shopping is that it is riskier than physical shopping. It will take a long time for the goods to arrive. And there are risks that the goods may not arrive at all or the goods received are not in accordance with what was posted in their descriptions in the internet. However, online shoppers could put their trust on big online establishment such as eBay because it has security measures to protect its customers from scheming vendors.                                                      

Debit card comes in handy when one shops online and he does not have a credit card. In this connection, Eon Visa Debit Card is a convenient tool to buy or sell goods at eBay, the biggest online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell broad variety of goods worldwide. Most online merchants accept payment only through PayPal. And for this reason it is the world’s most loved way to pay and get paid. And therefore it is also desirable for one who does online transaction to register and become member of eBay and PayPal which are sister companies. Membership in them is for free.                                                                                                                                                                

Since most online merchants accept payment only through their PayPal account, it is a good reason for one who transacts business online to be a member of PayPal. Linking one’s Eon Visa Debit Card with his PayPal account will facilitate his online transaction since he can receive and send money through the internet with the use of that card. The linking process is very simple and just takes a few minutes to finish. He just follows what he is instructed to do and when he is done he is now ready to do his online shopping at eBay. He must however be sure that the balance of his savings account is sufficient to cover for the cost of the purchase taking into consideration the current local currency and the US dollar exchange rate if the item is from another country. For every purchase PayPal automatically deducts a payment from one’s bank saving account that is associated with his debit card. He does not even have to worry to convert his local currency into dollar because it is PayPal Who will automatically do that online.

Generally, credit card is more acceptable and more convenient way of making online transaction than the debit card. The advantage of debit card is that there is no interest on goods that are bought which means that the purchase is at a lower cost. And one is not likely to buy goods on impulse because he has to spend only the money that is in his savings account.  With a debit card instead of a credit card, the cardholder is not likely to be burdened with unmanageable debt.