Korea to Phase Out Magnetic Strips on Debit Cards

Korea has decided to quickly phase out debit cards with magnetic strips, the Financial Supervisory Service announced Tuesday. Beginning in March only cards coded with integrated circuits (IC) will be assured of being accepted at ATMs.

To give consumer ample warning, ATMs will stop processing magnetic-strip cards for parts of the day beginning in March as a prelude to being completely phased out by September.

The 5% of Korean card holders who still rely on cards with only magnetic strips were encouraged to switch to IC cards which bear the gold-colored turtle-shell patterned chip on the front. Already about 98% of ATM machines in Korea accept IC cards. For some time most cards have been issued with both IC chips and magnetic strips to enable their use in smaller stores or overseas.