Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam’s first domestic chip cards will be launched in the firstquarter of 2019 to enhance safety and service quality of the country’s bankcard operations, according to the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam(NAPAS).

The NAPAS said that it iscooperating with six commercial banks to run a trial of the new domestic chipcards before the official launch.

The new cards will meetstandards set for domestic chip cards using contact and contactless chiptechnology issued by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in October this year,NAPAS said, adding it will be also compatible with EMV standards as well asstandards of international card organisations such as Visa, MasterCard, JCB andUnionPay.

The SBV plans to have at least 30 percent of active cards in thecountry meeting the domestic chip card standards by the end of 2020. The numberwill rise to 60 percent by the end of 2021 and 100 percent by the end of 2022.

To meet the plan, the SBV has required banks, card-issuinginstitutions and point of sale (POS) terminal suppliers to have alltheir automatic teller machines (ATM) and POS to accept chip cards by the endof 2021.

The SBV estimates that Vietnam currently has some 70 million bankcards with magnetic strips, which can be easily hacked due to weak securityfeatures.

International card-issuing organisations have asked Vietnamesebanks to switch to chip cards that meet EMV standards to increase safety amidstgrowing card information thefts. Security experts have also warned that Vietnam’sdelayed transition to chip technology could put the country at risk of becominga ‘haven’ for card criminals from around the world as it is among the fewcountries where the use of magnetic swipe cards is still prevalent.

The Ministry of Public Security’s C50 Division has arrested dozensof suspects on charges of criminal theft and identity theft in ATM and bankcard-related crimes between 2015 and 2018, with damages ranging fromhundred thousands to billions of VND.

However, many local banks have still postponed shifting to chip cards mainlydue to concerns over high investment costs.

According to banks, issuing a chip card can cost them some 1.5-2.5USD. It means that they will have to spend between 105-175 million USD for thetransition, not to mention the additional costs of upgrading their ATM machinesand core banking systems to adapt to the change.-VNS/VNA