The central bank of the United Arab Emirates is planning to implement the Europay, Visa, MasterCard security standard throughout the country.
The agency said Sunday that U.A.E. financial companies would be required to issue EMV credit cards to customers, replacing cards that use standard magnetic strips, to combat fraud.
Under EMV, cardholders must enter a PIN to authorize purchases at the point of sale. Most major payment card markets are testing or using EMV, though the United States is not.
EMV technology has been "extremely successful" in other parts of the world in reducing fraud, the central bank said. It made the decision after a review of the U.A.E.'s automated teller machine network and recent frauds. It did not say when banks will be required to distribute EMV cards.
