Alert! State Bank of India (SBI) to BLOCK your ATM debit card: Here's what you need to do

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has asked its customers to get their ATM-cum-debit cards with magnetic stripe replaced with the one with EMV chip before December 31. The Reserve Bank of India had asked banks to issue only chip-based and PIN-enabled debit and credit cards with an aim to protect customers from frauds.

EMV chip card protects against counterfeit (skimming) card fraud. EMV chip card and PIN protects against both counterfeit (skimming) and lost and stolen card fraud. EMV stands for 'Europay MasterCard Visa' while PIN is acronym for 'Personal Identification Number'.

"Dear Customers, it's time to make a shift. As per the RBI guidelines, you are required to change your Magstripe Debit Cards to EMV Chip Debit Cards by the end of 2018. The conversion process is absolutely safe and comes with no charges," the SBI has said in a tweet.

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Replacement free

EMV chip debit card issued as a replacement will be free of cost, SBI said. At end-June, SBI had 28.9 crore ATM-cum-debit cards, of which a large number of them are already chip based. Several other banks too are replacing the magstripe cards with EMV equipped cards.

It is easy to identify if the card has EMV or not. EMV cards have golden chip embedded on the card on the front side.

How to get free replacement

As per a FAQ on the SBI website, one can apply for the replacement EMV chip debit card by visiting the home branch. Alternatively, one can also request for issuance of the replacement EMV Chip Debit Card through internet banking.