EastWest issues EMV-compliant cards

EastWest Debit Card equipped with EMV and Visa PayWave

In line with with the mandate of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to migrate to the more secure chip technology, EastWest has been issuing EMV and Visa payWave-equipped debit, credit, and Travel Money cards. The bank’s ATM switch is already EMV compliant and all its ATMs are EMV-capable. 

In 2016, ahead of BSP’s deadline, EastWest completed the shift for all its credit cards to EMV & payWave. This was followed in January this year by the release of the EMV & payWave-equipped EastWest Travel Money Card, the first multi-currency prepaid card in Southeast Asia, and EastWest Debit Card.

EastWest has been issuing EMV debit cards as early as May 2015. Customers who opened accounts from that period onwards already have chip cards. Starting this year, EastWest began issuing debit cards that have both EMV and payWave for enhanced security, convenience, and global acceptance. Meanwhile, the bank is providing customers who opened accounts before May 2015, with free debit cards with EMV & payWave to replace their magnetic stripe-only debit cards.

EastWest Debit cardholders are advised to go to their store of account to claim their free replacement cards until May 31, 2017. Card replacement is automatic for non-EMV debit cardholders. 

EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, and is the global standard in card payment security. Its chip-on-card technology feature serves as an anti-counterfeit fraud solution that provides strong security features against theft, cloning, and card fraud. Meanwhile, Visa payWave is a contactless payment feature for quick tap-and-go transactions. It is also a more secure way of paying because the card does not leave the customer’s hand at checkout.

EastWest’s chip cards are accepted at over 30 million Visa-affiliated establishments worldwide, over 350,000 Visa-accepting online merchants, over 2,000 BancNet-accredited establishments nationwide, and more than 1.9 million ATMs in the Philippines and abroad. Customers can also use the cards to enroll in EastWest Online to enjoy secure and convenient internet banking. In addition, EastWest Debit cards are ideal for receiving remittances from other countries via Visa Direct.