Abu Dhabi: It will be optional for UAE residents to integrate their bank cards with national ID cards when such a system comes into effect, a top official told Gulf News on Thursday.
“It will not be mandatory at all for residents to link their ATM or credit cards with national ID cards when we provide such an option [in near future],” Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director General of Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) said.
As Gulf News exclusively reported on Tuesday, ATM and credit cards can be replaced by the national ID cards soon. The pilot results of this project will be announced within six months and depending on the results, the plan will be implemented. The ID card will be used for authentication processes to verify the identity of the cardholder. The ATMs [machines] or credit card terminals will process the financial transactions.
Al Khoury said Emirates ID has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the UAE Central Bank to mandate the usage of the ID card in the financial transactions.
He said once the system to integrate bank cards with ID cards comes into effect, the residents will still have the option to retain their bank cards. “It is up to the individual financial institutions to decide whether to integrate their cards with national ID card,” Al Khoury said.
If they wish so, they have to upgrade their security mechanism to match with that of Emirates ID.
Even if a particular bank chooses to integrate its bank cards with national ID card, its individual customers still will have the option to retain the bank cards. “Customers can decide whether to integrate their bank cards with national ID card. It is up to the customer to decide!” the official explained.
He said once the integration is in place, Emirates ID cannot access the financial data of customers at all. A basic understanding of the functioning of the bank cards will remove such fears, Al Khoury said.
An ATM card or credit does not carry any financial data of the customer but identification details of customer only to ascertain his or her identity, Al Khoury pointed out. Basically what a bank card does is identifying the customer at an ATM [machine] or a credit card terminal and link him or her to the financial data [balance in account etc] stored in bank’s system. The bank cards do not carry such financial data but the bank’s system does.
Bank card’s function is identifying the customer only, which can be offered by national ID card, he explained.
The national ID card will provide its digital infrastructure for financial institutions to identity their customers. An ID card chip has 144kb [kilobytes] capacity with multiple secure containers that enables the card to be used as a multi-functional card, Al Khoury said.
By integrating the bank cards with national ID cards, a bank does not integrate its financial data with the Emirates ID at all. The bank will just take the help of national ID card to identify its customer, which is otherwise done by a bank card, he explained.
He said the first advantage is customers can avoid carrying multiple cards and remembering personal identification numbers (PIN). The financial institutions can save expenditure on manufacturing plastic cards and their transportation and delivery. The banks may be able to share that savings with the customers by any other means. Abolishing plastic cards will save environment as well, Al Khoury said.
Some 10.4 million debit and credit cards were in circulation in the UAE in 2012 (according to the UAE Central Bank).
