Bank of Valletta announced that it has issued the first EMV Chip and PIN Cards through its systems.

“This is an important milestone in the process that will see us issuing EMV Chip and PIN Debit and Credit Cards to our customers over the coming weeks,” said Tonio Depasquale, CEO at Bank of Valletta. “By the end of the current year, we would have replaced most of the existing cards with the new EMV Chip and PIN Cards,” he added, explaining that this is a complex logistical exercise that is seeing the bank implement this new technology for the benefit of its customers.

“We are delighted to have reached this stage whereby, over the coming weeks, we will be starting the process of replacing the debit and credit cards of our customers who will be able to benefit from the new generation cards that we will be issuing,” added Mr Depasquale.

The new EMV Chip and PIN Cards that Bank of Valletta will be issuing over the coming weeks offer customers a number of benefits over the cards that are currently in circulation, including improved security and a more efficient payment process. In fact, when using the new EMV Chip and PIN Cards, the cardholder authorises the transaction by entering his PIN on the keypad of the Electronic Point of Sale Terminal (EPOS). This is faster and more secure than the system in place today where the customer signs a receipt generated by the EPOS to authorise the transaction. The new technology also provides additional security and process-related benefits to the merchants.