Bank introducing chip payment technology

Bank of Valletta is rolling out new point-of-sale devices and management systems through which retailers can accept both chip and PIN card transactions.

This major project uses the latest technology that involves the introduction of EMV acceptance infrastructure in Malta, the bank said.

EMV is an acronym for an international standard for chip payment cards, developed jointly by Europay, MasterCard and Visa.

Banks and other card issuers abroad are in the process of replacing their magnetic stripe payment cards with "smart" EMV chip cards, with UK banks being the world pioneers in nationwide roll-out of such infrastructure.

John Soler, chief credit officer at BOV said: "As the card industry moves to chip technology, Bank of Valletta has ensured that its customers continue to benefit from the latest security features that this brings about.

"BOV is investing heavily in upgrading its point-of-sale network to adopt this technology and provide a number of additional features and benefits to merchants and cardholders".

BOV is deploying a variety of state-of-the-art EPOS terminal models across its merchant network, each being better suited to support the unique needs of establishments in different lines of business.