New GSIS cards to cost up to P300M

BAGUIO CITY— Citing a new banking circular, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) may be forced to replace the electronic cards it issued to its members but is alarmed by its P225 to P300 million price tag.

Robert Vergara, GSIS president, said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is requiring the banking sector to upgrade its electronic card system from those that rely on magnetic strips to enable the bearer to transact online, to what is called the Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) cards.

The EMV cards operate using embedded electronic chips, which have modern features to protect an individual’s identity and assets, Vergara said during a meeting with GSIS members and officials here on Monday.

The BSP circular, issued in 2013, requires all banks to shift their “entire payment network from the traditional magnetic strips to [the] more secure EMV chip technology [by] Jan. 1, 2017.”

Vergara said the GSIS took some time to distribute electronic cards and unified multipurpose identification cards (UMID) to its members, and is facilitating the production and distribution of UMID cards for new members.

“We are working… to reduce the expenses we will have to incur if we replace all the cards [issued to 1.5 million members] because these are not cheap,” he said. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon