"The beginning of 2018 will bring no immediate change for password card users," Ede Raagmets, head of customer service at Swedbank Estonia, told BNS. "Password cards can still be used to conduct transactions totaling up to €200 per day."

Users must keep in mind, however, that the use of password cards will end Europe-wide in 2019 as a result of a provision containd in EU legislation, she added.

SEB also said that they are not planning to discontinue the use of password cards in 2018, or impose a lower daily limit on transactions conducted using a password card as the means of authentication.

According to SEB Estonia spokespeople, while password cards were still the most popular means of authentication for SEB customers at the beginning of 2017, the number of password card users has since dropped ten percent and are no longer the top means of authentication among their customers.

"The speed of giving up password cards depends on the one hand on the requirements of the relevant EU directive, which are presumed to take effect at the end of 2019, and, on the other, the speed of finding new means of authentication suitable for customers, as well as the safety of the use of a password card as means of authentication," SEB communications chief Julia Piilmann told BNS.

Danske Bank is scheduled to discontinue the use of password cards in Estonia on March 31.

Coop Pank stopped issuing password cards on Aug. 1 of last year, but has not yet decided whether to lower the daily transactin cap or when use of the cards will be discontinued.

Luminor, meanwhile, discontinued the use of password cards last April.