SBI is doing this under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) directions make it mandatory for all Indian banks to switch to the globally accepted and safe EMV chip-enabled debit cards

SBI has said that it will not charge any fee from its customers for upgrading their debit cards before December 31

Tokenisation is a process that masks actual card details using a unique alternate code called the \"token\", which is unique for a combination of card, token requestor-for instance m-commerce apps-and devices like smart phones.

Once the December-31 deadline ends, all private as well as public banks, in line with the RBI mandate, will deactivate all magstripe credit and debit cards from January 1, 2019.

This development is in line with RBI guidelines to banks directing them to migrate entirely to debit and credit cards with EMV chips.

Some SBI account holders are receiving messages from the bank stating that their debit cards have been blocked permanently. The reason behind the blockade is that the bank has decided to replace Magstripe Debit Cards with EVM Chip debit cards for security reasons.

Here is a detailed account of the different ways to make digital payments and, more important, how secure are each one of these methods.

We tell you ways to protect yourself from debit card frauds

Cyber criminals and skimmers are always on the prowl to rob you of your money, but a little prudence will help you stand in good stead.

Now, SBI, which was often labelled as old-fashioned, has an aggressive social media strategy, providing Internet and mobile banking solutions with ease to cater to the Gen Y customers.

The central government's Make in India initiative and a spurt in interest shown by angel investors and venture capitalists to fund tech hardware start-ups might just give the much-needed boost to the industry.