Signatures no longer accepted for debit and credit card payments

PETALING JAYA: The signature verification method for payment card transactions is now officially discontinued.

From today, it is compulsory to key in the six-digit personal identification number (PIN) when paying using a credit or debit card.

Cardholders must remember their PIN to avoid any inconvenience at point of sale (POS) terminals. Those who face problems when paying at a terminal or cannot remember their PIN have to contact their card issuing bank to ask for it or select a new PIN.

Some card issuers also allow cardholders to change their PIN online.

It is also vital that cardholders take precautionary measures to ensure their PIN-enabled cards are not compromised.

The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia have advised cardholders to keep their physical cards secure and PIN secret at all times.

Users are also advised not to record their PIN on their cards or on anything kept near the cards. Cardholders should never disclose their PIN to anyone else nor allow anyone to use their payment cards.

When setting a PIN, do not use numbers that are easy to guess or significant numbers like telephone numbers, birthdays or anniversaries.

Cardholders are also advised to cover the keypad when entering their PIN and to notify their card issuer immediately if the PIN has become known to someone else.

ABM stated recently that cardholders need to be educated not to hand their cards over to retailers.

They should retain control of their cards and decide whether they want to insert their cards for the PIN verification system or use the contactless payment system.

It said retailers also need to be trained not to request or accept a customer’s card, but to offer the PIN pad, and give them the option to insert or tap.

As long as it is kept secret, the PIN adds another layer of security to protect against fraud due to lost or stolen cards.

Close to 23 million payment cards have been replaced, translating to 100% of credit cards and 98.5% of debit cards as of May.

All POS terminals, including the outdoor payment terminals at petrol stations, have been upgraded to support PIN-approved transactions.

The percentage of card transactions where PIN was entered stood at 94% as at May 31, a huge increase over the 18% recorded last December.