India Post To Block Old ATM Cards From 1 Feb

Savings bank account holders at the post offices are required to update their mobile numbers and replace existing Magnetic ATM cards with a new EMV chip-based card by 31 January 2020. According to an India Post notification, cards of POSB (Post Office Savings Bank) account holders who fail to do so will be blocked after the deadline.

To update the mobile number and get a replacement for their ATM card, POSB customers will have to visit their home branch.

"POSB customers are requested to replace their existing Magnetic ATM cards with more secure EMV chip-enabled ATM cards and get mobile number updated before 31/01/2020 by visiting your home branch to avoid blocking of your cards," the notification said.

As of 31 December, almost all banks have replaced magnetic stripe cards with EMV chip cards, free of cost, as per RBI's (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines.

Unlike magnetic stripe cards, EMV cards are chip-based and create dynamic data with every transaction, making it almost impossible to clone.

After several card cloning frauds reported in the last couple of years RBI, as well as banks, issued several measures to control card skimming activities.

Apart from free of cost card upgradation, banks imposed restrictions on the total amount of cash that can be withdrawn from ATMs. The State Bank of India (SBI) also introduced OTP-based ATM withdrawal for transactions valued over Rs 10,000 made between 8 pm to 8 am.