SBI has issued over 39.5 crore debit cards with around 26 crore actively-used debit cardsSBI or State Bank of India customers can now withdraw up to Rs 20,000 in a day using select cards issued by the lender.

In a statement at the end of last month, the country's largest bank SBI announced a reduction in daily ATM withdrawal limits applicable to its Classic and Maestro debit cards.

The bank said the customers using its Classic and Maestro debit cards would be able to withdraw up to Rs 20,000 in cash per day from ATMs, instead of the existing limit of Rs 40,000. The new limit - half of the existing cap of Rs 40,000 per day - came into effect on October 31, according to SBI.1.

SBI's move, aimed at checking fraudulent transactions, is in line with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s directive on migration to EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) chip-and-pin cards.2.

The central bank has set a December 31 deadline for commercial banks to migrate from magnetic stripe-based cards to EMV chip-and-pin cards.3.

The Classic and the Maestro debit cards are one among the various types of ATM cards provided by SBI to its customers.4.

State Bank of India provides a free-of-cost upgrade of debit card to its customers.

The upgrade of existing debit card to an EMV chip-and-PIN debit card offers enhanced security, the bank has said on microblogging site Twitter.5.

There are, however, no changes in the ATM withdrawal limits applicable to other State Bank of India debit cards.(With agency inputs)