As part of the Cyprus PIN & Pay initiative that came into effect in March 2007, Tsys Card Tech has been successfully certified for Visa smart debit/credit (VSDC) and MasterCard chip cards.

The first three banks to roll out EMV cards using Tsys Card Tech’s Prime card management system are Marfin Popular Bank, Hellenic Bank and Universal Bank. They will roll out the cards during the next two years, as they replace existing magnetic stripe cards as their expiry date approaches.

Chip and PIN technology offers multiple benefits to the cardholder, such as reduced risk of fraudulent behavior and faster transaction times, and will allow for greater customer confidence in the security of each and every card payment transaction, said Petros Petrou, general manager at Marfin Popular Bank.

Tsys Card Tech has already worked with Hellenic Bank prior to this partnership. In 2003, Tsys Card Tech helped the bank launch Net Secure, a secure e-shopping service that uses a virtual card to ensure safer transactions over the internet, representing the first service of its kind in Cyprus.