Banks Overcrowded By People As Malaysians Rush To Change Their Cards Before 1 January 2017

Time is running out for those who hasn’t changed their credit and debit cards to the new cards which uses personal identification numbers (PIN) to authorise payments.

Malaysians flock to banks and wait over hours just to have their cards changed.

Cardholders face the excruciatingly long queues at branches as there are many last minute customers, where some have been waiting for more than five hours but have yet to receive their new cards.

Source: The Star

On 1 January 2017, the transition from signature to PIN will be fully enforced and cardholders would need to enter their PIN when making transactions through point-of-sales (POS) terminals. If you have received your new card but have not activated it yet, you will find that your old card won’t work at the transaction counter by January 1.

Source: alliancebank

Don’t worry if you have a memory like a sieve and can’t remember your PIN, as the authorities have anticipated such cases and there is a grace period for PIN bypass lasting until 1 July 2017.

Bank Negara is actively encouraging banks to urge customers to replace their credit and debit cards.

But as at the end of October and Malaysians being Malaysians (everything also last minute) there has only been less than 50% of active debit card replacement.

For credit cards, 6.1 million of the 7.5 million credit cards have been replaced and the rest of the customers will be able to receive their new cards by end of December. More than 60% of these 6.1 million cards have already been activated.

Source: bumbleemum.net

The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) stated that it has been a challenge to encourage cardholders to head to the bank and collect their new debit cards.

Banks have even extended branches operation hours and utilising several methods such as mailing out of debit cards and assisting customers to replace their cards so more people are able to make the transition in time.

As the move continues, the number of PIN-enabled terminals have increased greatly, which prompts customers to select a PIN. Do take note that old credit cards are only usable up to three months after the date that the new credits are sent to the cardholders.

So, if you haven’t change your card to the new one, best to not wait anymore! Do it before you find yourself stuck at the counter, unable to pay for your purchases. Awkward!