In several posts I have touched on regional card blocking, often known as geo-blocking. What is it? Why is it done? How is it done? Where is it done? Does it work? In this post I will try to briefly answer these questions.What is Geo-blocking?
Many European card-issuers have spent a lot of money issuing EMV (Chip and PIN) compliant cards. When a card present payment transaction takes place the terminal reads the EMV chip on the card, while it is authenticated by the cardholder's PIN (either online or offline). Geo-blocking is when an EMV card issuer blocks its cards from being used in certain countries or regions where magnetic stripe transactions are routinely performed. All EMV cards are blocked unless they are 'white-listed' (i.e. the card holder intends to travel to a high risk country/region).
