News

Singapore begins long process of EMV conversion

January 31, 2012

Singapore banks have begun the huge task of upgrading the country's magnetic stripe ATM system to a smart chip-enabled ATM system following a major skimming fraud involving DBS Bank cards in early January, said a news update at straitstimes.com.

The security upgrade involves significant logistical changes beyond simply producing and issuing new cards to bank customers. The country’s ATMs will have to be upgraded, and software capable of reading the EMV chip will have to be installed and tested in all ATM networks. The entire process could take as long as 18 months, straitstimes.com reported.

The changeover to smart chip technology must be completed by 2014 in accordance with a directive issued by the Association of Banks in Singapore as part of a wider security review.