To protect the legal interests of financial institutions and Mainland China Union Pay (CUP) cardholders, as well as to ensure the effectiveness of the measure to monitor ATM cash withdrawals by Mainland CUP cards, starting tomorrow (4 July), the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) is requesting those ATMs without “Know-Your-Customer (KYC)” techniques installed to suspend cash withdrawals services for Mainland CUP cards.  Relevant services will be resumed as soon as the KYC function is installed.  Holders of Mainland CUP cards can carry out cash withdrawals through ATMs with “KYC ATM” logo whereas Macao residents and holders of cards issued by banks of other jurisdictions are not affected.

Along with the rapid economic and banking development of Macao, self-service banking has been continuously optimised and the use of Mainland bankcards has become increasingly popular in Macao.  With the aim to promote the integrity of the financial system of Macao and to enhance the protection of the legal rights of Mainland cardholders, the AMCM has requested banks earlier to put their ATMs with KYC techniques into service in stages so as to enhance the verification of cardholders’ identity.  Up to 2 July, there were 834 ATMs with KYC function.

Holders of Mainland CUP cards can go through the normal cash withdrawal process through ATMs with “KYC ATM” logo after their respective identities are verified.  The AMCM has been requesting banks to speed up the implementation and is striving, in collaboration with each bank, to cover all ATMs in Macao including those inside casinos and in their surrounding areas by this year-end.  The AMCM will follow up on the implementation closely to ensure the smooth operation of ATM cash withdrawals.  Holders of Macao bankcards or cards issued by banks of other jurisdictions can carry out ATM cash withdrawals as usual.  KYC techniques for verification of identity will be extended to other Mainland bankcards at a later stage.