News

State Bank of India permanently blocks non-EMV cards

August 24, 2017

State Bank of India issued a statement on Monday urging customers to apply to receive an EMV bankcard to replace their existing magnetic stripe card. SBI asked customers to apply via online banking.

SBI said in the statement that:

All esteemed customers of State Bank of India are hereby informed that it has been decided by the bank that all the magstripe debit cards which are in blocked state as on Feb. 28, 2017, and to all such requests for blocking thereafter will remain blocked permanently. …

Instead, free EMV chip cards have to be issued to them. The affected cardholders are to be advised to apply for replacement EMV chip card through internet banking or by approaching their home branch.

In 2016, SBI blocked millions of its debit cards as a precautionary step after reports of suspicious transactions. According to the National Payments Corp. of India, as many as 641 customers of 19 banks were duped of 1.3 crore rupees ($202,900 ) using stolen debit card data. The breach reportedly involved approximately 90 ATMs.