MaltaThe Bank of Valletta in Malta announced that it has issued the first EMV Chip and PIN Cards through its systems.
“This is an important milestone in the process that will see us issuing EMV Chip and PIN Debit and Credit Cards to our customers over the coming weeks,” said Tonio Depasquale, CEO at Bank of Valletta. “By the end of the current year, we would have replaced most of the existing cards with the new EMV Chip and PIN Cards,” he added, explaining that this is a complex logistical exercise that is seeing the bank implement this new technology for the benefit of its customers.
“We are delighted to have reached this stage whereby, over the coming weeks, we will be starting the process of replacing the debit and credit cards of our customers who will be able to benefit from the new generation cards that we will be issuing,” added Mr Depasquale.
The new EMV Chip and PIN Cards that Bank of Valletta will be issuing over the coming weeks offer customers a number of benefits over the cards that are currently in circulation, including improved security and a more efficient payment process. In fact, when using the new EMV Chip and PIN Cards, the cardholder authorizes the transaction by entering his PIN on the keypad of the Electronic Point of Sale Terminal (EPOS). This is faster and more secure than the system in place today where the customer signs a receipt generated by the EPOS to authorize the transaction. The new technology also provides additional security and process-related benefits to the merchants.
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a small and densely populated island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands, three of which are inhabited. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Europe just 93 km (58 mi) south of Sicily, giving the country a warm, Mediterranean climate, and 288 km (179 mi) to its south is North Africa.
Throughout much of its history, Malta has been considered a crucial strategic location due in large part to its position in the Mediterranean Sea.[3] It was held by several ancient cultures including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians, Byzantines and others. The island is commonly associated with the Knights of St. John who ruled it. This, along with the historic Biblical shipwreck of St. Paul on the island, ingrained the strong Roman Catholic legacy which is still the official and most practised religion in Malta today.
The country's official languages are Maltese and English, the latter a legacy from Malta's period as a British colony – the United Kingdom is the most recent outside ruling power. Malta gained independence in 1964 and is currently a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as the European Union which it joined in 2004.
