The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced that ATM cards will have secure smart chips installed by 2014.

Mrs. Ong-Ang Ai Boon, the director of ABS, told The Straits Times (ST) that the changes were not a 'knee-jerk' reaction to the fraud that hit DBS.

But the measures to boost ATM and card security have already been in the works, now it is merely being 'fast-tracked' after the scam.

Ong: "Over the last two years, we have been constantly looking to enhance all the security measures. We know out there the fraudsters are getting smarter and more sophisticated and know what we are doing, and we need to stay ahead of them."

According to the ST report, by 2014, all ATM and ATM-linked debit cards will have chip technology that protects a customer's details much better than the current magnetic stripes, thereby making 'skimming' much harder.

Once the chip-based cards are implemented, the stripe will likely be either deactivated so ATMs only read data on the chip, or the ATM will be able to opt to choose to read the more secure option of the two, reported ST.

But as long as the United States continues to only accept magnectic stripe cards, then the cards will likely keep the stripe, the report says.