ComBank introduces ‘Over the Air PIN’ for credit, debit cards

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has introduced ‘Over the Air PIN’ (OTAP) for credit, debit/ATM cards, establishing another benchmark in technological innovation, speed and customer convenience.
New card holders of the bank will no longer be required to wait for their personal identification number (PIN) to arrive in the post to activate and use their cards, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank announced. Instead, they will now receive their PINs to registered mobile phone numbers via SMS, when the cards are ready for collection. The PIN sent to a mobile phone via SMS is a temporary PIN and the message requests the customer to visit any of the 630 ATMs of Commercial Bank to register a new PIN for the card. The card is automatically activated when the PIN number is changed.

The OTAP method minimises the waiting time, and security is ensured by the fact that the temporary PIN sent to the mobile phone is only valid for changing the PIN. If an existing customer misplaces or forgets his or her PIN number, a new temporary PIN will be sent within an hour of notifying the bank.
Besides removing the hassle of having to wait till a PIN arrives to use the card, the OTAP system also eliminates the use of paper and other resources to send out printed PINs.

“We are delighted to introduce yet another technological improvement to bring convenience to our valued customers through the introduction of OTAP,” Commercial Bank Managing Director Jegan Durairatnam said.

“At Commercial Bank we are keen to introduce technology that matters in the lives of our customers. We are particularly glad to introduce this development immediately after our ATM network was made EMV compliant, thus assuring maximum security according to international standards,” he added.
The new facility will be valid for all newly-issued personalised credit cards and debit/ATM cards, since instant cards are given a PIN at the point of issuing, the bank said.

Holders of Commercial Bank’s standard ATM cum Shopping Debit Cards can withdraw up to Rs.40,000 from the bank’s ATMs per withdrawal. The bank also offers customers the option of setting their own ATM withdrawal limits up to a maximum of Rs.100,000 a day, and a point-of-sale limit of up to Rs.500,000.