News

China gets first EMV cards

July 10, 2006

ePaynews.com: China's first EMV chip cards are now being issued by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. In line with Asia's card fraud liability shift of Jan. 1, 2006, China's central bank, the PBOC, is encouraging local banks to evaluate EMV chip cards as an antifraud mechanism. At end-October 2005, China's (mainly magnetic-stripe) bank card issuance exceeded 900 million yuan (US $111 million). China Unionpay, the payment network responsible for integrating China's disparate networks, has signed agreements for its cards to be used in the United States, Japan and Europe.