Bank customers to select ATM PIN at collection points

As the cashless economic policy gathers momentum, Deposit Money Banks have been enabled to allow customers select their own Personal Identification Number at the point of collecting their Automated Teller Machine cards across all bank branches in the country.Interswitch, in a statement on Friday, said it had introduced the instant Selectable PIN solution to enhance the cashless policy introduced by the Central bank of Nigeria.The Director, Transaction Processing, Interswitch, Mr. Akeem Lawal, said with the instant Selectable PIN, card issuance and activation had become an instant process for banks; an upgrade from the traditional paper PIN mailer.A PIN is a four digit numeric secret password known only by the cardholder which the system uses to validate the cardholder. He explained that the instant Selectable PIN empowered the banks to provide their customers with the ability to choose their own PINs at the bank branches.This process not only quickens the speed of card activation but it is also secure as the PIN is selected and memorised on the spot by the cardholder, he said.He highlighted some benefits of the solution to include enhanced security and confidentiality of the PIN, reduction of operating cost for PIN issuance, increase in card activation and enhanced customer experience.According to him, the solution promotes complete confidentiality of the cardholders PIN at the point of delivery while eliminating risks that maybe associated with paper PIN mailers dispatched to bank branches. With the instant Selectable PIN solution, banks would not need to send paper PIN to customers.He noted that the solution had the necessary security controls to service customers outside the bank branches, adding that the banks could deploy the solution for prepaid customers and credit card customers at remote locations.Lawal, who disclosed that First Bank had implemented the solution, said, Now card activation has increased for First bank by over 100 per cent as seen from the monthly Switch Report. When combined with the instant card issuance solution, provided by Interswitch, it means that customers can walk into a bank branch, request a card and leave with a fully activated card within 20 minutes. This creates convenience for the customer and the bank.With the solution, Lawal said the banks would reduce operating cost of issuing or re-issuing PIN thereby eliminating cost of PIN mailer stationary and other consumables at the branches with this solution.In his views, he stressed that bank customers would get instant card activation which creates an opportunity for bank branches to accelerate card pickup and activation in preparation for the Cashless Lagos initiative
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