The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has taken steps towards the migration to EMV smart cards, online media outlet timesofoman.com reports.

According to the source, the bank has selected a consultant to develop a migration strategy, provide technical specifications taking GCC-net requirements into account and conduct user acceptance testing.

Furthermore, the CBO in association with Visa has done preliminary work to persuade banks to migrate to chip-enabled payment cards and Visa has organized a workshop for the banks to explain the security aspect of the chip-compliant technology, the same source explains.

EMV is a global standard for micro-processing chips that are embedded in credit and debit cards to provide additional security. The cards with embedded EMV chips are secured by personal identification number (PIN), which has to be entered into a point-of-sale machine before the card can be used.