Banks upgrading card security features

MANILA, Philippines — Security Banking Corp. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) are upgrading the security features of their debit cards to protect clients against fraud and cyber threats.

Jopet Jocson, first vice president and Fraud Management Division head at Security Bank, said the bank strengthened its card security with the ATM card lock/unlock feature similar to an “on/off” switch.

The enhanced feature conveniently allows customers to turn off and on their card functionality in just a few clicks. It provides additional protection against unauthorized transactions including withdrawals and other card-related fraud.

“Customers can lock their cards for as long as they prefer and just unlock it when needed. They can also utilize the lock feature whenever they temporarily misplace their card or when they are traveling to prevent unauthorized charges,” Jocson said.

Aside from the benefit of increased security, he explained the lock feature could help clients with budgeting by allowing them to take full control of their purchases.

While a card is locked, it can neither be used to make ATM withdrawals nor do point-of-sale and online transactions.

Another functionality of the lock/unlock feature is the ability to reset the ATM pin count whenever the customer is locked out of his account due to failed pin input attempts. Every time one uses this lock/unlock feature, the customer would receive an SMS message and an email with a unique transaction reference number

On the other hand, RCBC has introduced its latest feature for its online banking to allow customers to protect their cards from cyber threats.

With RCBC Online Banking’s newest card lock-and-unlock feature, RCBC customers are guaranteed that their debit or prepaid cards are protected from security threats.

The card lock-and-unlock feature could be used in any given scenario, from protecting the card from online hackers, to securing the account should the card be stolen or misplaced.

RCBC Digital Banking Group head Margarita Lopez said the bank’s primary concern has always been the safety of customers’ accounts and their confidence that their funds are protected.

“Given the recent increase in cyber threats and ATM skimming in the country, we wanted to provide our customers with a feature that will allow them the option of protecting their debit or prepaid cards in the quickest way possible,” she said.