Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced that it would be expanding its offering of EMV technology to corporate cards for U.S. international travelers.

The enhancement follows the adoption of chip and PIN technology for corporate clients in Europe last year and is in response to increased client demand. Chip and PIN is a natural extension of the company’s commercial card strategy to provide innovative card solutions in markets throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America.

The new cards can continue to be read by traditional magnetic stripe readers where EMV is not available. BofA Merrill will begin issuing the cards in the U.S. in first quarter 2012.

BofA Merrill’s corporate travel cards enable companies to consolidate reporting across multiple currencies and countries, and minimize foreign exchange expense with local currency settlement and payment.