Almost all of Kenya’s automated teller machines (ATMs) have been converted to be chip and PIN compliant, says the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).

KBA chief executive officer, Habil Olaka, has said that 96% of ATMs in the country are EMV-compliant, meaning that they can use the more secure chip and PIN ATM card technology.

The move to make the country’s ATMs chip and PIN compliant comes as Kenya gears up for a March 31 deadline to replace all the country’s magnetic stripe ATMs in a bid to cut back on card fraud.

Meanwhile, the KBA wants Point of Sale (POS) terminals to be EMV-compliant by year-end.

As of July, Olaka said there were about 2,500 ATMs in the country and close to 19,400 POS sale terminals.

Olaka adds that there were also more than nine million debit cards and 135,700 credit cards in circulation as of July this year.