PHOTO | FILE A Co-operative Bank ATM lobby. A process to migrate ATM machines to a more secure technology is nearly complete as local banks move to tackle growing payment card fraud. NATION MEDIA GROUP
By RAMENYA GIBENDI
A process to migrate ATM machines to a more secure technology is nearly complete as local banks move to tackle growing payment card fraud.
The Kenya Bankers’ Association on Wednesday said 96 per cent of all Automated Teller Machines across the country have been upgraded to the Europay MasterCard and Visa (EMV) technology.
Bankers’ in April launched the Sh2.5 billion plan to migrate all members and their processes to the EMV standards with a deadline of September 30, 2013.
“We have achieved the set target and the remaining four per cent ATM’s have been earmarked for certification or phase-out before the end of the year,” said KBA chief executive, Mr Habil Olaka.
Payment cards that meet EMV standards are implanted with chip-and-PIN technology, which is considered more secure than the magnetic stripe cards that the banking sector is phase out.
In order to read these chip-and-PIN cards, banks have to modify ATMs and Point-of-Sale (POS) machines. Under the initiative, the 43 local banks ware to share the high costs of compliance with EMV standards.
MORE CHALLENGES
Although the banking sector is well on its way to ensuring that all ATMs are EMV compliant, Mr Olaka said that a host of challenges have forced the sector to adopt a phased-out approach towards achieving compliance in other segments.
“Banks faced challenges like extensive EMV certification process and challenges with suppliers fulfilling the earlier stipulated timelines,” he said.
Kenya Bankers Association CEO Habil Olaka (left) and Fidelis Muia, Director of Technical Services during a media update on the industry wide transition to EMV compliance standard on October 23, 2013 at the KBA Office in Nairobi.
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