OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2010. Raiffeisenbank began issuing MTS-Raiffeisenbank VISA chip cards. The cards are serviced using the Bank’s standard tariffs. The new cards also feature a magnetic strip, allowing clients to perform operations at any ATM or commercial/service company that accepts VISA cards, reported the press-centre of Raiffeisenbank.

The full transition to Raiffeisenbank debt and credit chip cards is projected for completion by the end of 2011. The use of chips significantly increases cards’ security, and the chip cards will enable Raiffeisenbank to undertake various high-tech projects in the future.

"We are committed to increasing our clients’ security, hence the shift to chip cards, which offer the highest level of security among bank cards. The use of chips makes it possible not only to avoid losses from fraudulent transactions, but also to expand the functional horizons of debit and credit cards", notes Andrey Stepanenko, Member of the Board, Head of Retail Private Individuals Directorate.

Bank cards were one of the first products Raiffeisenbank offered to clients when it entered the retail market in 1999; Raiffeisenbank was the first foreign-owned bank to issue bank cards in Russia. The Bank is a full member of the VISA International and MasterCard International payment systems, offering all of these systems’ main types of bank cards from Electron to Gold, including cards with a credit limit. Cards are issued for current accounts in rubles, US dollars and euros.

In addition to issuing cards, Raiffeisenbank is actively developing acquiring, and its service network includes over 1 000 sales outlets. The ATM network currently includes more than 1 500 units.

Additionally, in early 2010, in order to increase security for clients using bank cards to pay for goods and services through the Internet, Raiffeisenbank implemented Verified by Visa (VbV) technology for all Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum and Visa Infinite debit and credit cards.