When is Chip technology coming to Canada?

Some financial institutions in Canada have already started to introduce Chip technology to the Canadian marketplace. All financial institutions have their own timelines for launching this new technology, which will occur over a period of years. There will be information and activities surrounding Chip that may prompt you to have questions. We want to assure you that we will assist with any questions you may have. We also want to give you the confidence that ATB’s products continue to be safe and secure and you can continue to use these products with the same confidence you have today.

Kitchener-Waterloo Trial

In October 2007, members of the Canadian payment card industry, Interac, MasterCard Canada, Visa Canada, and many of their respective card issuers and processors began an in-market trial in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. This trial is designed to test the infrastructure of the Chip-based payments network and will allow participants to confirm the interoperability of their respective technologies and devices in a secure and controlled manner. The trial will also give customers of participating financial institutions the opportunity to use the Chip-enabled products.

The Kitchener-Waterloo trial is expected to continue until fall 2008 at which point Chip-enabled cards and Point-of-Sale terminals will begin to be deployed nationally. The conversion of all debit, merchant, credit cards and ABMs will be done according to each Canadian financial institutions independent timeline.