UCPB Set to Deactivate Old Magnetic Stripe ATM Cards

UCPB on Thursday called on its account holders to upgrade to the new chip-equipped Visa Debit/EMV Card as it is set to deactivate the old magnetic stripe-enabled automated teller machine (ATM) cards.

In a statement, the bank said UCPB ATM card holders have until Aug. 1, 2017 to go to their servicing branch to claim the more secured Europay, Mastercard, and Visa-powered ATM cards.

“The Bank’s new Visa Debit Card provides our cardholders more security through the EMV chip,” UCPB Vice President and Marketing Group head Charina D. Balanquit said.

Shift on the use of EMV-enabled ATM cards is in line with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Circular No. 859, which is aimed at ensuring safe transactions in the country.

BSP earlier set Jan. 1, 2017 as deadline for banks to fully migrate to EMV technology but most banks failed to meet it.

Thus, the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) has set a “hard deadline” of June 30, 2018 to fully comply with the requirement.

Banks that fail to meet the deadline will be penalized.

Despite the fact that most banks failed to meet the January 1, 2017 EMV-compliance deadline, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. earlier said some financial institutions have improved their multi-factor authentication (MFA) system to increase their capacity against cyber attacks. (JSV/PNA)