PNC Bank Improves Security at Its 9,000 ATMs

PITTSBURGH – PNC Bank has made its 9,000 ATMs more secure to use, Ken Justice, its senior vice president responsible for ATMs, said Monday.

The upgrades allow the machines to read cards with chips, which are harder to counterfeit than the older cards that employ magnetic-stripe technology.

PNC-issued cards along with Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards are affected.

The only difference a customer will notice is that the ATM holds the card with a chip a little longer before it’s returned than the card with a magnetic stripe. Length of transaction to withdraw cash, make a deposit or transfer funds remains the same, a PNC spokesman said.

In addition, the upgrades allow the customer the option of an email receipt for his transaction instead of a paper receipt printed at the site.

PNC made the upgrades both to improve security – that is, make it more challenging for someone intent on committing fraud to counterfeit a card – and because beginning Oct. 1, the fraud liability for MasterCard debit and credit cards shifts to the owner of the ATM used. Visa will shift such liability in October 2017.

The upgrades in security could signal the end of ATMs owned by third parties in settings such as bowling alleys and convenience stores, Justice suggested, or at least a great reduction in their number and availability. Third parties are likely to balk at the expense of installing the software to make their ATMs more secure.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.