KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued regulations for payment card security to promote modern payment systems to safeguard the interests of consumers.
The SBP, in a notification, said these regulations, under the Payment Systems and Electronic Fund Transfers Act, 2007, outline minimum set of operational, administrative, technical and physical safeguards.
“(The regulations are) to secure payment card operations of the financial institutions (FIs) and payment systems operators (PSOs) and payment service providers (PSOs) in Pakistan and are based on international best practices and standards,” the bank said.
“Card service providers shall develop and implement a comprehensive card security framework by taking into consideration various types of risks associated with the payment cards, their usage patterns and the cardholder profile.”
The central bank said the regulations mandate the adoption of Europay MasterCard Visa standard, “thus bringing the country at par with other developed nations who have adopted this international standard.” These regulations have been issued to facilitate the card service providers to develop a card security framework, while aligning their information security objectives with the SBP’s strategic objectives, it added.
The bank said the use of electronic means of transactions has facilitated the masses in effecting transactions instantly. “With the increased growth in payment card transactions, its security has gained importance due to rising threats and vulnerabilities associated with it.”
