Al Rajhi Bank has installed advanced Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) across Saudi Arabia that accept chip-cards based on international standards.

Visa operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network and has provided technical and consultancy support for the installation, which will enable all Visa chip card transactions to take place using the chip on the card rather than the less secure magnetic stripe at any of Al Rajhi Bank ATMs.

The new ATMs will be situated at malls, streets, petrol stations, hospitals, airports and hotels and are already in operation. The ATMs will still be able to accept cards without a chip.

“We are confident that our sophisticated banking network will be very useful, as chip-card holders can withdraw money directly from their Visa credit or debit cards and do not have to carry travellers’ cheques,” said Dr Saleh Ibrahim Al Furaih, head of credit cards at Al Rajhi Bank.

“We have an excellent reputation for utilising cutting-edge financial technology, which is underscored by the launch of this initiative as it will assist our customers to benefit from a new generation of payment cards,” he added.

Chip-cards, or smart cards, are an updated version of standard payment cards that have many advantages such as increased safety, additional features and greater convenience. 

Al Rajhi Bank obtained the licence to install the new ATMs from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama).

“A chip transaction is secure and these new ATMs will make it even less likely that a Visa chip cardholder will have their card used fraudulently,” said Ihab Ayoub, general manager, Visa, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen.

Al Rajhi Bank operates one of the largest banking networks in Saudi Arabia as it accepts all Visa chip cards issued internationally.-TradeArabia News Service