All ABN Amro Bank credit card holders will receive a new credit card with a contemporary design, fitted with a chip, between mid-March and mid-May. The bank said it plans to also offer the new credit card to non-ABN Amro Bank customers.
The new credit card means ABN Amro will comply with the world norm for secure credit card payment ahead of planned introduction in the Netherlands. The norm, referred to as the EMV standard, applies to Europay, Mastercard and Visa and replaces signature-based payment authorisation with a PIN-based system that minimises credit card fraud. The EMV standard is already in effect in neighbouring countries.
In addition to enhanced security, the new credit card offers card holders insurance on purchases made with the credit card for a period of 180 days as a standard feature. Holders of the new card will also be able to view transaction data anywhere and anytime via the Internet, as well as pay their credit card balance in instalments. The ABN Amro Bank Gold Card and the ABN Amro Bank Ajax Card will also be replaced with cards that comply with the new norm.
The chip and PIN revolution has been in full swing in the UK since last year. The majority of UK card users have already received replacement cards with completing of the change over expected to be reached later this year.
Chip and PIN is promoted as being safer than the traditional method of paying with plastic as it involves entering a four digit PIN number instead of giving a signature which is potentially forgeable.
