The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to upgrade all ATMs with additional safety measures to prevent skimming and cloning of debit and credit cards. The central bank has put September 2017 as the deadline for this purpose. While POS terminal infrastructure in the country can now accept and process EMV Chip and PIN cards, the ATMs continue to process card transactions based on data from the magnetic stripe. This, RBI says, results in vulnerability for these cards to fraudulent methods like skimming and cloning, even though the cards are EMV Chip and PIN based. Contact chip processing of EMV Chip and PIN cards at ATMs would not only enhance the safety and security of transactions at ATMs but also facilitate preparedness of the banks for the proposed ‘EMV Liability Shift’ for ATM transactions, as and when it comes into effect, RBI said. RBI has also stipulated that all new ATMs should necessarily be enabled for EMV Chip and PIN processing from inception. For the purpose of switching, clearing and settlement of their ATM transactions, banks with the approval of their boards, may join any authorized ATM/Card network provider.
