EAST WEST Banking Corp. (EastWest) has set a Dec. 4 deadline for clients to claim their microchip-embedded cards, well ahead of the deadline set by the central bank to use the more secure platform.

In a statement, the listed lender said customers have until the first week of December to exchange their magnetic stripe cards with new cards carrying the Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) chip.

All the older strip-based debit cards will be deactivated by then, which will render them unusable for day-to-day transactions.

Card holders must visit their respective branches to hand in their old cards and claim the EMV chip-based cards, which will carry “enhanced security features” against fraud and identity theft. These will likewise offer the payWave technology for contactless payments.

An EMV card contains a microprocessor chip which creates a unique transaction code for each payment, versus the fixed information embedded on magstripe cards which are used for every transaction.

EastWest’s self-imposed deactivation target comes months ahead of the June 30, 2018 deadline set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for all banks and credit card issuers to shift to the EMV technology.

Apart from card replacement, the BSP deadline requires banks to upgrade their back-end and automated teller machines (ATM) terminals to embrace the more advanced technology. This is well beyond the original January 2017 deadline set by the regulator when it announced the EMV requirement back in 2014.

Ahead of the full migration, the BSP has mandated banks to set up reserves for potential card fraud so that they can shoulder the burden and settle potential theft cases for all non-EMV cards still in use.

Philippine banks are largely relying on the widespread use of EMV cards to thwart card skimming and identity theft, with the chip-based system expected to help raise security standards.

BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. previously said shifting to the EMV platform is the “long-term” solution versus skimming, which is often done by installing data-capturing devices on ATMs to steal client data.

Among the common skimming devices used by thieves are keypad overlays and secret cameras, as well as deep inserts which are placed on ATMs to copy card data and passwords among unsuspecting bank clients.

EastWest reported a P2.502-billion net income from January to June, surging by 60% from the P1.563 billion booked during the same period in 2016. The Gotianun-led lender said net interest income grew by 22% to reach P8.972 billion, against a 14% increase in operating costs as the bank started issuing EMV cards to clients.

The bank started issuing EMV cards back in May 2015. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

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