Bank of Valletta has migrated all of its Visa Gold and Platinum credit cards to the new generation Chip and PIN cards.

The new Chip and PIN cards provide a more efficient payment mechanism when compared to cash or cheques.

"All our Gold and Platinum card holders can now benefit from the added convenience and security offered through the Chip and PIN cards," Michael Galea, executive head responsible for cards business, explained.

"Customers can also benefit from an interest-free credit period and purchase protection and travel insurance when using these cards, apart from other benefits."

The cards also simplify the acceptance procedure at the point of sale. The retailer only needs to insert the card in the POS terminal and ask for the cardholder to enter the PIN to have the transaction authorised.

BoV was the first local bank to open its POS terminals to accept chip and PIN cards in line with the implementation of the European Union's Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) project.