SWIPE cards with magnetic stripes will be replaced with EMV chip cards, owing to its solid security features, and will become ubiquitous in three to four years in India, smartcard maker Gemalto said reports N Vasudevan for mydigitalfc.com
EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa, the global standard for interoperation of chip cards and IC card capable point of sale (POS) terminals for authenticating credit and debit card transactions.
EMV chip card transactions are believed to improve security against fraud compared to magnetic stripe cards as the former rely on the holder’s signature and visual inspection of the card to check for features such as hologram.
Nimish Swarup, vicepresident, POS Asia and secure transactions of Gemalto India, said, “Swipe cards are magnetic stripe-based, which can easily be cloned or skimmed. Few banks in India have already issued EMV chip cards to their premium customers. The banks are doing cost-benefit analysis and are studying other associated benefits with such cards.”
Unlike swipe cards, EMV chip cards must be inserted into the terminal for validation. According to Swarup, today 90 per cent of the terminals in India are ready to accept chip cards.
“As per regulations of Master and Visa, if the infrastructure is more than 80 per cent ready, the banks can go for chip cards,” Swarup said.
Other than EMV chip cards for banking sector, Gemalto is working with oil companies, such as BPCL and Indian Oil, to issue cards for loyalty and payment solutions. It is also in talks with some healthcare companies in India to issue smart cards that carry individual’s health records.
Gemalto has also introduced smartcard technology with biometric authentication for Financial Information Network and Operations, an Indian Financial Inclusion Solutions and Services company, to enable microbanking and simplify access to financial services for the under-banked population in rural India.
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