Fifth Third Bank is launching a commercial card that has an EMV chip to allow the bank's business customers to make payments overseas.
The decision places Fifth Third of Cincinnati among a host of retail banks now offering cards that use the EMV standard.
"In today's global business environment, EMV chip cards can improve the ease and security of payments for commercial clients when making payments overseas and for everyday transactions," stated Jeff Ficke, Fifth Third's senior vice president and director of treasury management, in a press release Aug 20.
Over the past several years, banks have been issuing these cards as a way to allow overseas travelers to make transactions.
At first, in 2010, it was the United Nations Federal Credit Union that began offering Gemalto-produced chip and PIN cards to members. By the end of last year, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup, Bank of America and others began issuing EMV cards, though in some cases they did not support PIN.
