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Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) said yesterday it has added a new level of security to protect customers’ credit and debit cards from fraudulent transactions when travelling abroad. |
To guarantee secure transactions, all of QIB’s credit and debit cards carry both a magnetic strip on the reverse side and an electronic micro-chip, which is embedded in the surface. Both also contain information specific to the customer and his or her account.
Due to the features provided by the microchip, the card’s chip feature is the “most secure” solution available to prevent duplication of cards or of skimming data from it, said QIB Personal Banking Group general manager D Anand.
Anand said that this is another layer of security that QIB is implementing to provide a safer banking experience. “Our aim is to protect our clients’ information and card details when they travel as we have noticed that all fraudulent cases are happening outside the country and are heavily relying on the magnetic strip feature in order to access the customers’ data,” he added.
Most merchants in the US and some in Asia Pacific are still reliant on the magnetic strip when processing card transactions whereas most countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America are now using chip-based processing. Overall, card transactions will not be blocked in most countries worldwide.
A chip-based card, on the other hand, has a built-in microchip, which performs the same transactions as that of a magnetic strip but uses higher security measures.
Chip card technology offers increased security because it reduces the risk of card skimming. Also chip credit card transactions are authenticated by a personal identification number (PIN) instead of a signature, which adds an additional level of security and speeds up the transaction time at merchant terminals.
In addition, the chip card must remain inserted in the POS terminal until the transaction is completed.
In Qatar, all transactions are chip and pin-based transactions. As part of QIB’s commitment to enhance the security of electronic payment cards, all magnetic strip transactions will now be permanently blocked outside Qatar for both debit and credit cards effective immediately.
Only chip-based transactions will be allowed unless customers specifically request that the magnetic strips on their cards would be activated while travelling abroad.
Customers will not be able to use the magnetic strip feature unless they confirm the following details with the bank prior to travelling in order to activate their card accordingly: date of travel, destination, and travel duration.
Customers who wish to use the magnetic strip feature outside Qatar may call the bank call centre and specify all the countries where the QIB cards will be used, the travel dates, and the departure and return dates to Qatar.
Customers are also advised to specify if the magnetic strip should be activated for point-of-sale, ATMs, or for both. Once all details have been provided, the magnetic strip transactions will be activated for the period of travel only. The cards will be automatically blocked in the system after the expiry of the travel details provided to the bank.
