Grandinite

A follow-up to my previous post, the following provides one possible explanation for any PIN or network banking weirdness canadian bank customers might be experiencing:

Canadian Banker’s Association:

Canada is moving to more secure technology

Security measures are constantly being enhanced and technology is being upgraded to prevent fraud. Banks, the Interac Association and the major credit card associations have begun to introduce chip technology, sometimes called smart card technology, for debit and credit cards. In addition to the magnetic stripe on the back, the cards will be embedded with a microchip — really a small computer — that will process transactions. The microchip is state-of-the-art in payment card technology and is extremely difficult to duplicate. In fact, chips cards have reduced fraud in a number of other countries where they are currently used. The implementation of chip-based technology has already begun and it’s expected that the conversion to chip will be widespread by 2010.

The Interac Association, Visa Canada and MasterCard Canada are bringing chip card technology to Canada on behalf of the banks and other payment card partners. To learn more about chip technology, visit their websites at:

* www.interacchip.ca
* www.visa.ca/chip
* www.mastercard.com/ca/personal/en/technolog ies/chip/

From Interac.ca:

The chip transition timeline

Every Acquirer (or payment service provider) has its own timetable in place for providing chip terminals. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Interac Association has implemented final conversion deadlines that work within merchants’ normal business cycles, so that merchants will be able to transition to chip within the set timeline and with minimum impact.

* Interac chip cards and terminals are already being rolled out across Canada.
* Complete migration to chip technology will take several years and the timetable for the introduction of chip will vary from one financial institution, and one service provider to another.
* All Automated Banking Machines (ABM), point-of-sale (POS) terminals and banking cards across Canada will be upgraded.
* Magnetic stripe debit card transactions will no longer be accepted at ABMs after December 31, 2012.
* Magnetic stripe transactions will no longer be accepted at POS after December 31, 2015.
* Chip cards will continue to carry the magnetic stripe, not only to facilitate the chip transition period, but also to allow cardholders to use their debit cards in other countries that do not use chip technology.