Magazines Archives - 2010 May

Asian consumers ‘take the lead’ in keeping payment fraud at bay
Story 7 -Retail Technology

SHOPPERS in the region are recognising that they play a greater part in keeping payment fraud at bay and continue to practise fraud-prevention measures to secure their payment cards. According to a new survey released by Visa, titled Visa Asia Pacific Payment Card Security Study, 19% of respondents acknowledged that consumers “had the greatest role to play in stopping fraud”, while 17% felt that payment-card and processing companies should be held liable in event of a breach.

“Payment security is a shared responsibility and our survey findings show many consumers in the Asia-Pacific are taking the lead in fraud prevention. Visa is helping consumers with payment-security solutions and sharing its expertise with participants in the payment system to help keep fraud rates steady at near historic lows,” noted Mike Smith, regional head of risk management at Visa.

The study also showed that the top three concerns with payment-card security were password hacking, identity theft via stolen personal items and ATM skimming. Across the region, respondents in Japan, Hong Kong and China felt less threatened by payment fraud, out of 11 countries and territories surveyed. The survey showed that respondents changed their passwords and PINs every two to three months, while about one-third of respondents used different passwords for their various payment facilities, such as ATM and credit cards, as well as their onlinebanking accounts.

“Most cardholders are familiar with the ease and security that passwords and PINs can offer. They can help protect cards from fraudulent use if stolen and allow merchants to verify the identity of the cardholder.

“The simple rules to observe with passwords and PINs are to change them regularly, use a different password or PIN for each purpose, and make sure to not use words or numbers that are easy to predict. Security experts also advise that strong passwords should consist of random letters and numbers,” Smith maintained. ra

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