Payment cards  

Payment card is a generic description covering various bank, credit, charge and combination cards designed for payments and cash withdrawals. There is a wide selection of payment cards in the market, varying from bank to bank. Groups of retailers have also launched their own cards.

Old bank and ATM cards will go out of use

Bank and ATM cards that are valid only in Finland will disappear from the banks' selection of cards in an effort by banks to comply with the requirements of SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) with maximum cost-efficiency: it is not feasible for banks to maintain two different systems: one domestic and one euro area-wide.

Each bank decides itself on the replacement of bank and ATM cards and on the selection of cards made available to their customers. There is, as such, no legal obstacle in EU or national law to maintaining two different systems.

From magnetic stripe to EMV chip cards

In step with SEPA, banks are gradually replacing all their old magnetic stripe cards with new SEPA payment cards, which are equipped with an EMV chip for greater security, as it is considered more difficult to duplicate chip cards than magnetic stripe cards. Bank cards with a magnetic stripe will gradually disappear completely from the banks' cards portfolio. Payment with a chip card is accepted by punching in the PIN code into the POS terminal, and not by signing a receipt as in the case of magnetic stripe cards.

The aim is that, starting in 2011, customers will be able to use pin and chip cards to pay for their purchases and make cash withdrawals from ATMs across the Single Euro Payments Area. Retailers and service providers have already upgraded part of their terminals with chip compatible technology. However, it is up to the merchants themselves to decide which cards they will accept as payment instruments.

24 October 2011