Fearing insecurity, banks will convert 70 million ATM cards to chip cards

In a recent meeting with the State Bank of Vietnam, the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) said: It has transferred technical documents to a number of banks, payment acceptance device providers (ATM, POS), and card providers to edit the system and carry out a pilot implementation.

The pilot implementation is assessed as a complex process with a large amount of work. Based on the results of the pilot implementation, the parties agreed that the domestic chip card standards for contact cards are feasible in the real environment, qualified for issuance and implementation in the entire market.

By 2020, all domestic debit cards will be converted to chip cards.

The participating banks all agree with the SBV's policy on the need to convert bank cards from magnetic cards to chip cards in the current context to ensure security and safety in bank card operations, facilitating the increase of features and utilities for cardholders. This is a major turning point for card issuance and payment activities in Vietnam.

Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said that the domestic chip card standards set is being piloted and is assessed by participating banks as being close to reality, the upgrading and pilot implementation is relatively favorable and does not encounter technical difficulties.

In order to soon issue the domestic chip card standards set in accordance with the State Bank's plan on converting bank cards from magnetic cards to chip cards, the Deputy Governor - Head of the Steering Committee requested the members of the Steering Committee and relevant units to urgently complete the domestic chip card standards set; complete the procedures, submit to the Governor of the State Bank to issue the Basic Standards (TCCS) on domestic chip cards, issue relevant legal documents and a roadmap for converting bank cards from magnetic cards to chip cards (which clearly stipulates the time limit for converting responsibilities).

According to the roadmap set by the State Bank of Vietnam, 2020 is the deadline to change all domestic cards in Vietnam (ATM), from magnetic cards to chip cards. Thus, this is the final stage for banks to prepare for the application of the domestic chip card standard set and by 2020, banks will convert 70 million current ATM cards from magnetic cards to chip cards.