MORE than 95% of the 3,839 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the country have been upgraded to chip-based technology, Malaysian Electronic Payment System Sdn Bhd (MEPS), the service provider and technology partner for smart card implementation for local financial institutions, said in a statement.

MEPS said the 12 local financial institutions had completed their ATM upgrading exercise for the Payment Multipurpose Card (PMPC/Bankcard) project, begun in the last quarter of 2002, which would result in the issuing of bankcards to customers for total chip-based ATM transactions.

The upgrading exercise for hardware, software and host systems involving the shared network to provide greater security for banking transactions, would also allow e-Purse loading (for debit cards) at the ATMs while allowing for the bankcards to be used as electronic cash payments at point-of-sales, said MEPS managing director Datuk Mohd Hata Robani.

MEPS said customers would be able to make payments at retailers and merchants using the bankcard as an e-Purse once loading facilities become available at ATMs, an exercise being undertaken by the financial institutions from this month.