At First National Bank we are committed to providing our customers with the latest and most secure technology available. Protecting your accounts is our priority.
A chip card, also known as an EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) card is equipped with a small metal square "chip", which adds an extra layer of security when you make purchases at chip-enabled terminals. The chip within the card stores account information more securely and the technology provides protection against fraudsters creating a replica of your card. Our new chip cards will soon be available to all our debit card customers.
The purchasing process will be the same as it is now, except your card is inserted and will remain in the terminal during the entire transaction process, rather than being swiped through the card reader. If you swipe your chip card at a chip-enabled terminal, the terminal will prompt you to insert the card if it’s capable of supporting a chip transaction. If the terminal is not chip-enabled you will swipe your card to complete the transaction.
EMV / Chip Cards are becoming the global standard for credit and debit card payments. EMV technology features standard bank cards that are embedded with a micro computer chip. These chips store and help protect your cardholder data. EMV / Chip Card technology has already been adopted Internationally with proven success in the reduction of card-present fraud.
Chip technology adds an additional layer of security to each of your card transactions. Each transaction is approved using a unique encrypted authentication code, making it far more difficult to copy or access your personal information. That unique one-time transaction information also prevents a thief from making any additional purchases with stolen card data. It’s important to remember that chip card safety measures only apply to in-person or card-present transactions.
A chip card is the same size, shape, and weight as your current First National Bank Debit Card. Chip Cards will have a chip on the front and a magnetic stripe on the back. You may need to use one or the other, depending on whether the merchant offers a chip-enabled terminal. It’s important to know that your card will work when used correctly.
First National Bank will be issuing Chip Cards in a three phased approach. It's important for you to know that we are committed to providing you this enhanced security for your debit card during 2016. Cardholders who possess a card that expires during the year 2016, will automatically be issued a Chip Card one month prior to your expiration month.
Our three phased timeline is outlined below; however if you wish to have your card switched to a Chip Card before your designated timeframe, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.
| phase |
description |
| PHASE 1 |
Cardholders who currently possess a Photo Debit Card, these cardholders will be switched to a regular Chip Card. Card numbers will change for these cardholders but PINs will remain the same. Also any cardholders who consistently travel overseas will also be issued Chip Cards during Phase 1, these card numbers will only change if the card is currently a Photo Debit card but PINs will remain the same. We are tentatively planning for Phase 1 to occur during late January or early February 2016. |
| PHASE 2 |
Cardholders with cards expiring in 2017, 2018 and the first half of 2019 will be issued during our second phase. We are tentatively planning for Phase 2 to occur during the April - May 2016 timeframe. Card numbers and PINs will remain the same for cards re-issued during Phase 2. |
| PHASE 3 |
Cardholders with cards expiring during the second half of 2019 and beyond will be issued during our third phase. We are tentatively planning for Phase 3 to occur during the October - November 2016 timeframe. Card numbers and PINs will remain the same for cards re-issued during Phase 3. |
Visa® $0 Liability. Your current $0 fraud liability will not be affected based upon when you receive your Chip Card. This is also not affected by the merchant accepting mag stripe or EMV. The same Visa® protection remains in place on both card types from a fraudulent transaction standpoint.