The cards bearing magnetic stripes which are used today are soon going to be replaced by their more reliable chip forms. SWIPE cards are on for giving way to EMV chip cards in the coming 3 to 4 years owing to the higher level of safety and reliability of the latter, said smart card manufacturer, Gemalto.

EMV expands to Europay, MasterCard and Visa which is the global standard for interoperation of chip cards and IC card capable point of sale (POS) terminals for authenticating credit and debit card transactions.

In terms of security EMV chip cards are said to be better as they would require holder's signature and visual inspection features like hologram for authenticity check.

Nimish Swarup, vicepresident, POS Asia and secure transactions of Gemal to India, said, "Swipe cards are magnetic stripe-based, which can easily be cloned or skimmed. Few banks in India have already issued EMV chip cards to their premium customers. The banks are doing cost-benefit analysis and are studying other associated benefits with such cards."

"As per regulations of Master and Visa, if the in frastructure is more than 80 per cent ready, the banks can go for chip cards," Swarup said.

Gemalto has also come up with smartcard technology with biometric authenticatiom for aiding to financial inclusion drive of India.