Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to state that there is no truth to the recent media reports and social media postings on claims that cardholders will be charged a fee and will not be able to use their ATM cards for cash withdrawals if they do not replace their ATM cards with the new PIN-based cards.

The replacement of the existing signature-based payment cards with the new PIN-based cards is an industry initiative aimed to further enhance the security of the use of payment cards at the point-of-sale (POS) terminals in merchant outlets.

Bank Negara Malaysia would also like to convey our earlier message that the current initiative to migrate to PIN-based payment cards for transactions at POS terminals is to improve security and protect cardholders' interest. Members of the public should not delay their replacement of cards.

Members of the public will be able to replace their ATM cards at their banks for free. ATM cards in Malaysia double up as a debit card which allows cardholders to make purchases at POS terminals. Members of the public who have not replaced their ATM cards can continue to use their existing card for cash withdrawals at the ATMs. With regard to the usage of ATM cards as a debit card for purchase transactions at POS terminals, banks are required to provide cardholders with adequate notice and a reasonable time period for the replacement of cards before disabling the existing cards for such transactions.

Banks have been progressively replacing their customers' signature-based payment cards with PIN-based cards and aim to complete this exercise by 1 January 2017. This would provide cardholders with a six-month period to adapt to the usage of PIN-based cards at the merchants' POS terminals. Effective 1 July 2017, all payment card transactions conducted using locally issued payment cards at POS terminals in Malaysia can only be completed with a PIN entry. Signature verification will no longer be facilitated.
Further details on the migration to PIN-based cards can be obtained from Bank Negara Malaysia's website at
Change to PIN-based payment cards for more secure payment transactions.

If you have further queries, please contact Bank Negara Malaysia through the following channels:

• BNMLINK, Block D, Bank Negara Malaysia, Jalan Dato' Onn, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
• BNMTELELINK
  • Tel: 1-300-88-5465
  • Fax: 03-2174 1515
  • Email: [email protected]
  • SMS: 15888