Magazines Archives - 2009 June

Are the benefits worth the investment in the Philippines?
Story 7 - Focus

The benefits are compelling. By using smart cards, or cards compliant with EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa), the international standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions jointly deve loped by global payment specialists, customers are assured of a higher level of identity security — a major concern with the typical magnetic-stripe credit cards. They can also use their cards for more than just purchases.

Card issuers such as banks and retail companies are also able to get to know their customers better from the wealth of information stored in the smart chip, a microprocessor similar to that used in a cell phone.

Companies can make the most of such valuable information as shopping habits and frequent purchases to help them inspire shopper loyalty by tailoring services like rebates or gifts to suit specific customers.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), one of the largest financial institutions in the archipelago, was among the country’s first to recognise the potential benefits of EMV-chip technology, which is also the reason BPI became the first Philippine bank to migrate to smartchip cards.

EMV has become the foundation of new payment schemes operating on non-contact and mobile platforms.

The bank made the switch in 2007 after 20 years of issuing magnetic-stripe cards initially to give its customers better security as the chips are much harder to hack into or manipulate than magnetic stripes.

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