Bangkok – The Bank of Thailand is advising holders of debit and ATM cards with magnetic stripes to use chip cards instead.
Sirithida Phanomwan na Ayutthaya, an assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand in the payment policy and financial technology section, said the use of chip cards provides more safety than debit or ATM cards and prevents the use of fake cards which might contain data from stolen debit or ATM cards via ATMs.
Since 2016, the Bank of Thailand has cooperated with the Thai Bankers Association and other financial institutions to encourage the use of chip cards. All debit cards and ATM cards are expected to be replaced by the end of this year since they will no longer be usable at ATMs or card swiping machines after January 15, 2020.
According to financial institutions, about 47 million chip cards are currently in use, while about 20 million magnetic-striped cards are currently used nationwide. The Bank of Thailand has called on the holders of magnetic stripes cards to contact any branch of their bank and change their cards by producing their ID card, debit or ATM card and bank account book. No service fee is charged.
Those who don’t change their magnetic-striped cards to chip cards may still withdraw or transfer money at a bank or transfer money using mobile or internet banking.
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