UnionBank of the Philippines is set to deactivate all magnetic stripe cards by the end of March in line with the industry’s migration to the microchip-based bank cards.

In a statement, UnionBank called on its automated teller machine and debit cardholders to claim their Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) chip enabled cards, as the bank will deactivate the magnetic stripe cards by March 31, 2018.

The Aboitiz-led lender also called on its customers who hold Unified Multi-purpose ID Cards of Government Service Insurance System and Quick Cards of Social Security System equipped with magnetic stripe to claim their new cards.

“We encourage all our customers to [switch] to EMV before March 31, 2018… Doing so will help them avoid any inconvenience in the future, especially with the eventual phaseout of non-EMV transactions,” Dennis L. Matutina, executive vice president for channel management of UnionBank was quoted as saying in the statement.

The bank’s card upgrade measure is months ahead of the June 30, 2018 deadline set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for banks and credit card issuers to shift to EMV technology.

The BSP originally set a January 2017 deadline when it ordered EMV upgrades in 2014.

EMV cards, the current global standard for financial transactions, are more equipped to ward off fraud, identity theft and other malicious activities. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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