Standard Chartered Bank Bahrain has rolled out a fully operational debit and credit card - (EMV) chip card infrastructure in line with the requirements of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

The chip cards would require customers to use their PIN numbers for both debit and credit cards. This will further ensure the security of the cards.

"Standard Chartered Bank is proud that we are meeting the CBB's requirement to migrate to the EMV chip card infrastructure in a timely manner," Standard Chartered Bank Bahrain chief executive officer Jonathan Morris said.

"EMV chip technology is a key platform for the global payment industry, and this is a significant milestone for Standard Chartered in our overall migration from magnetic stripe cards to EMV chip cards.

"This is certainly an exciting development for our acquiring and issuing services. Merchants using the new EMV terminals will benefit from additional chip functionality, as well as EMV's added security and protection as chip cards are rolled out locally and globally.

"In Bahrain, we have started rolling out the EMV chip cards for debit as well as our credit card customers and we look forward to gradually migrating the entire debit and credit card portfolio to EMV chip over the next three months."

"Whilst we have already upgraded our ATMs to accept and process EMV compliant chip cards, migrating all our debit and credit cards to EMV chip cards is the next step towards improving security," regional head consumer banking Northern Gulf, Levant and Oman B Chandrasekhar said.

"Customers will be delighted to know that there will not be any interruption to their card usage or standing instructions with the deactivation of the magnetic-stripe card. Further, the EMV chip debit and credit card comes with complex encryption locks and keys to help reduce the possibility of fraud."

"Customers are encouraged to visit our nearest branch and update their contact details at the earliest, so they can avail of our new generation chip enabled credit and debit card which the bank will mail directly to them between July through September,” Chandrasekhar added. – TradeArabia News Service