News

Nedbank intros chip-and-PIN cards in Namibia

May 20, 2016

South Africa's Nedbank is phasing out mag stripe cards in the nation of Namibia and replacing them with EMV chip-and-PIN cards.

The cards are also EMV compliant and can be used at any EMV-enabled ATM or POS terminal in the world, Nedbank said. The new cards, which offer free text messages to track transactions — have a cash withdrawal limit of 3,000 Namibian dollars ($191).

Nedbank accountholders can swap out their current mag stripe card with a chip card at any of the bank's branches. The instant issuance process takes about five minutes and the customer's first chip card is provided at no cost.

The Bank of Namibia has called for the nation's FIs to implement chip-and-PIN technology by March 2017.