ILOILO City – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will be evaluating banks on their compliance to the EMV-card that took effect June 30, 2018.
EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa.
In an interview, BSP Financial Supervision Sector deputy governor Chuchi Fonacier said that they will look into the “extent of compliance, whether substantial or far from the supposed to be 100 target compliance”.
The country’s shift to EMV technology was prompted by a mandate from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which requires banks to fully shift to EMV by June 30.
This means that the magnetic stripe cards many Filipinos continue to use will soon be disabled. EMV chip cards are seen as more reliable and less susceptible to theft and fraud.
ATM fraud is prevalent in countries that predominantly continue to use magnetic stripe cards – the Philippines is one of those. In 2013 alone, local banks reported 1,272 cases of ATM fraud.
Fonacier said that while most are almost closer to the 100 percent, not all banks have reached the target. She said that sanctions will be imposed on those who failed to comply as she underscored that the main goal of the BSP is “protection of depositors”.
“We’re still in the process of determining their compliance,” she said.
However, she said they understood the challenges being faced by the banking institutions.
“However hard they are promoting that they should already redeem or have their cards changed, there are depositors who still do not come forward to claim,” she said.
With this situation, banks – on their own – are extending the deadline, she added.
“But BSP is not extending the deadline. So, we will see the compliance profile before we determine the appropriate action,” she stressed.
The BSP could not yet disclose the sanction, she said, adding that it will be up to the Monetary Board to agree on the kind of sanction.
Meantime, she said while there is no sanction for depositors who are not using EMV-compliant card, they “run the risk to become victim of skimming”.
“We are calling on depositors to get their cards from the banks where they have an account so they will be protected,” she said.
Fonacier was in this city for the 2018 awards and appreciation ceremony given by the BSP to 15 stakeholders from Western Visayas. (PNA)
