KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has refuted recent reports which claimed ATM cardholders would be charged a renewal fee and denied its use for cash withdrawals if not replaced with the new PIN-based cards.

In a statement, the central bank said the public could replace their automated teller machine cards for free.

“ATM cards in Malaysia double up as a debit card which allows cardholders to make purchases at point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

“Those who have not replaced the cards can continue to use it for cash withdrawals at the ATMs,” it said.

With regards to the usage of ATM cards as a debit card to make purchases at POS terminals, banks are required to provide cardholders with adequate notice.

This is alongside a reasonable time period for the replacement before disabling the existing cards for such transactions.

BNM said banks had been progressively replacing their customers’ signature-based payment cards with cards using personal identification numbers (PIN) and aimed to complete this exercise by Jan 1, 2017.

It said effective July 1, 2017, all payment card transactions conducted using locally issued payment cards at POS terminals in Malaysia could only be completed with a PIN entry and signature verification would no longer be available.

“This initiative to migrate to PIN-based payment cards for transactions at POS terminals is to improve security and protect cardholders’ interests.

“The public should not delay replacement of their cards,” it added.