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Is your debit/credit card a chip-based one? If not, you may not be able to swipe it from the New Year.
According to an RBI circular, all existing bank cards should be Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) chip- and pin-based from January 1. The magnetic stripe cards will not be valid after December 31.
However, with less than two weeks to go, banks are struggling to replace their old cards. Enquiries with over half a dozen public sector banks revealed that only 50-70 per cent of the old cards have been replaced.
The remaining magnetic stripe cards are those that were issued prior to September 2015. As part of its measures to beef up security and mitigate risks, the RBI made it mandatory for banks to issue only EMV chip- and pin-based debit and credit cards (domestic and international) from September 1, 2015.
Will the magnetic stripe cards function beyond the deadline? “It’s not clear yet. If the RBI is not extending the deadline, banks may disable them to make customers come and apply for the new ones,’’ a top executive of Andhra Bank told BusinessLine .
State Bank of India has sent new cards to those customers who had used their magnetic cards at least once in last 12 months under phase one, according to J Swaminathan Chief General Manager, SBI - Hyderabad Circle.
“Those who have not used it in the last one year should visit their respective bank branches to collect the new cards,” he told BusinessLine . All magnetic stripe cards will not be functional after the deadline as per regulatory norms, he added.
While SBI is not charging its customers for the replacement, confusion reigns over the policy being followed by other banks.
“I have got calls from two banks with which I have accounts. While Bank of India has not charged, Andhra Bank has debited new card charge from my account,’’ V Subrahmanyam, a customer, said even as he questioned the decision to make customers pay.
To combat rising frauds
The shift to EMV cards comes against the backdrop of increasing instances of electronic frauds such as cloning, skimming and misuse of lost cards. For using an EMV card, a Personal Identification Number (PIN) is required for executing a transaction, which rules out misuse.
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