New eftpos chip for debit, credit cards

Payment firm eftpos said yesterday that Australian financial institutions are starting to roll out cards featuring the new eftpos chip. The firm's managing director, Bruce Mansfield, said Australians currently made more than 6 million eftpos transactions every day, via more than 39 million eftpos-enabled cards and 820,000 terminals across the country.

Mansfield said that over the next three years the new eftpos chip technology would be added to new and replacement cards (credit and debit) that can be used to make eftpos transactions.

He said the eftpos chip enabled a range of new possibilities because of its capacity to carry multiple applications for the first time. The chip will also bring contactless payments capability to eftpos-only cards for the first time.

ANZ, Bankwest and Credit Unions that use Cuscal to aggregate have already started issuing multi-network debit cards featuring the new eftpos chip. ANZ was also connected and processing transactions via the eftpos centralised payments hub, along with early adopters Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, ING Direct, Suncorp Bank and Strategic Payments Services.

"The new eftpos chip will be embedded in eftpos-only cards and replace the old chips in multi-network credit and debit cards," Mansfield said.

"Point of sale terminals across Australia are also being upgraded with the eftpos chip technology.  This will help to further reduce eftpos fraud, which is already the lowest in the country."

The eftpos chip rollout is a major plank in the eftpos technology transformation which also aims to bring eftpos transactions to new platforms such as online and mobile in the near future.