EMV chip cards use technology which helps to increase speed and versatility of electronic payments for both cardholders and merchants. Chip technology also helps minimizes the risk of counterfeit card fraud.
Mike Smith, Visa’s regional head of risk management for Asia Pacific said, “Roughly 27 percent of all Visa cards in the Asia Pacific region are chip-enabled, yet 75 percent of the payment security experts from across the region who attended our summit tell us that they carry a chip card in their wallets. That these security professionals would personally hold chip cards is a strong industry endorsement of the value and benefits of EMV chip technology.”
The poll at the conference also uncovered an important shift in security concerns among electronic payment security professionals: only five percent of the delegates felt increasing counterfeit fraud was their top security concern — a shift that is addressed by the migration to EMV chip cards and terminals across the region.
Smith said: “As part of Visa’s multi-layered approach to payment security, the highly successful chip card mandate in Malaysia provides a strong example of chip-enabled cards as a powerful tool in reducing counterfeit cards — evidence that the region’s security experts have clearly taken to heart. Having witnessed the effect Malaysia’s accelerated EMV chip migration had on domestic counterfeit fraud, we want to see faster and more widespread adoption of the technology and use of the chip card across the region.”
Malaysia was the first country in Asia Pacific to mandate the use of EMV chip technology in 2005 in order to curtail card fraud. In the first three months of 2005, total domestic counterfeit fraud on Malaysian-issued Visa cards was almost US$677,000; 12 months later, domestic counterfeit fraud on Malaysian-issued Visa cards was virtually eliminated.
Customer Service Innovation
EMV chip technology is the foundation of contactless payment and mobile payment platforms — both of which were cited by the security experts polled as the services which hold the greatest potential value for customers in the next one to three years. Mobile payment was at the top of the list of services selected, with contactless payment coming in a close second. Alerts, money transfer and remote payments rounded out the top five services with the greatest potential customer value.
Smith said: “Chip technology is helping to drive innovation in electronic payments. We are already seeing the promise of these innovations in locations across the region — for example Starbucks in Korea, where customers can pay for their coffee with a wave of their Visa payWave-enabled card or mobile phone instead of fumbling around for cash.”
Contacts:
Punjaporn Koosamarth,
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, +66 (0) 2 205 6626, [email protected]
Waralee Bunnag,
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, +66 (0) 2 205 6627, [email protected]