Banks to issue chip cards in place of 21 million magnetic strip cards

Customers withdraw money from an ATM. Seven banks will replace their current magnetic strip cards with chip cards to enhance their safety. - VNA/VNS Photo

They are Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank, Sacombank, TPBank, and ABBank, who have issued around 70 per cent of the cards in the country.

Some other banks have also registered with NAPAS to do so.

Nguyen Quang Minh, deputy general director of NAPAS’s research and development division, said it has everything in place to help the banks make the switch.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) plans to complete 30 per cent of the task this year and replace all 75 million magnetic strip ATM cards in the country by the end of 2021.

Minh said the information contained in the chips is encrypted and only the issuing bank can read the data in it.

Thus, they reduce the risk of information being stolen and counterfeits made.

According to banks, many countries in the region such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have switched to chip cards.

Statistics show that counterfeit transaction rates decrease sharply with chip cards, they said.

Besides, chip cards, which possess many advantages compared to the old cards, would help boost cashless payment in Viet Nam, they said.

Nguyen Minh Tam, deputy CEO of Sacombank, said the lender has completed all technical requirements and is ready to issue new cards in accordance with Vietnam Chip Card Specifications (VCCS), which uses contactless technology and can make payment via QR code in line with EMV specifications.

Sacombank plans to initially issue the card to new customers and replace old cards.

According to banks, a chip card costs VND40,000 (US$1.7).

With 21 million cards to be issued this year, the card costs alone will exceed VND800 billion ($34.2 million), the banks also have to bear the cost of upgrading ATMs and POS system, a bank spokesperson said.

But only some banks said they would issue them for free.