The National Payment Corporation of India has introduced a chip-based debit card under the RuPay brand.
From The Hindu Business Line:
The chip card has to be inserted into the machine so that the user can key in a unique PIN to complete the transaction, which enhances the security level. The chip cards are based on international specifications that provide protection to banks and customers against card skimming and counterfeiting frauds, NPCI said in a statement.
Bank of Baroda and Saraswat Co-operative Bank are the first two banks to issue these cards.
The card will be accepted at all channels including ATMs, point of sales (PoS) machines, e-commerce and now EMV (card standard developed by Europay, MasterCard and VISA) chip and pin cards across the globe.
One of the main reasons why we are now seeing more and more security measures is the fact the cost of fraud is becoming higher than the cost of actually implementing chip-based cards. The technology obviously is nothing new. It is all a matter of cost in countries where there are no regulations forced upon financial institutions to adopt smart-cards. If the cost of fraud increases beyond the cost of upgrading security, we will see change. On the same token, if the cost of the upgrade becomes cheaper than fraud costs, we will likewise see a move towards chip cards.
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