HSBC Bank Malta said today that following the successful issue of its first Chip and PIN cards through its systems four months ago, it is now making available Chip and Pin credit cards for Premier and Classic Card customers.

The bank said that following months of rigorous testing and certification by MasterCard and Visa, it had, over the past month, issued a number of Chip and Pin Credit and Debit cards which have been pilot-tested locally and overseas by selected customers.

In addition, HSBC was the only local bank to have its EPOS terminals certified by all card shemes to accept Chip and PIN Cards.

''HSBC has been working hard over the past months on converting its systems to issue and accept Chip and PIN Cards,'' said Sally Robson, HSBC Malta Chief Operating Officer. “Since the first cards were issued four months ago we have, in conjunction with VISA and MasterCard, worked tirelessly to obtain certification to accept and issue these new cards.

“Following successful testing of the cards, both locally and abroad, we are now in a position to immediately issue Chip and PIN cards to our customers. We will replace existing cards in due course so that all our customers will start to benefit from the enhanced security these new generation cards offer.”

Chip and PIN cards offer improved security features when compared to existing credit and debit cards. This is because at point of sale, customers will now be required to enter their unique PIN (Personal Identification Number) to authorise any transactions. This replaces the current practice of customers having to sign a receipt.