State Bank of India, the largest public sector bank in India, announced complete migration of its new issuance of Debit cards to secure EMV Chip and Pin based cards. With this, SBI becomes the first large Bank to issue 100% EMV Cards compliant with RBI’s directive on ‘Security and Risk Mitigation Measures for Card Present and Electronic Payment Transactions’ dated 27th August 2015. The latest offering will allow consumers to transact securely at Point of Sale terminals and would contribute towards making the Indian payment ecosystem more secure.

All SBI customers opening accounts with the Bank hence forth will receive this EMV Chip and Pin based Debit cards. Existing customers can also request for upgrading their Card by visiting their home branch against payment of nominal fee (based on Card variant).

As per data published by RBI, for the period upto Aug 2015, State Bank Debit Card commands a market share of around 38.41% in terms of total Outstanding Debit Cards, way ahead of other banks in the industry.

Smt. Manju Agarwal, Deputy Managing Director, Corporate Strategy and New Businesses, SBI said, “SBI has always been extremely cautious on the security aspect of the digital / electronic transactions. We were the first Bank to introduce pure PIN based Cards to give confidence to the customers to swipe their Debit card on the Point of Sale terminals. With EMV Cards, the Bank is likely to enhance its “Most Trusted Brand” image amongst the customers. Further, EMV Cards will make card based transactions more secure which, in turn, will give a boost to electronification of payments in India. Bank’s endeavor has always been to provide its customer a secure and safe electronic payment facility / medium for their everyday purchases”, she said