BoV becomes first bank to accept V Pay cards

Following the successful certification by Visa, Bank of Valletta has become the first local bank to open its point of sale (POS) terminals to accept V Pay cards. With this new technology, BoV merchant customers will start benefiting from a wider card acceptance base, making possible the acquiring of another brand of cards using chip and PIN technology.

"V PAY is a pan-European debit card created by Visa and is based entirely on chip and PIN technology, thereby greatly reducing the risk of fraud and disputes," said Michael Galea, executive head responsible for Bank of Valletta's cards business.

"We are delighted to be the first bank to offer merchants in Malta the possibility of accepting V Pay cards, thus increasing the potential for new business from V Pay cardholders," added Mr Galea.

Given that this debit card takes the full advantage of the latest chip and PIN technology, it is both efficient for merchants to accept and secure for cardholders to use. And as with all other chip and PIN cards, acceptance procedures are very simple - the merchant just needs to insert the card in the POS terminal and ask for the cardholder to enter the PIN to have the transaction authorised.

Numerous banks in eight European countries have already committed to the introduction of the V Pay which will equate to 40 million V Pay card users over the next two years.