Tuesday 16th October, 2012

According to a global study of more than 5,200 consumers across 17 countries conducted by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group a quarter of people have been hit by card fraud during the past five years, prompting many to ditch their provider.

The report also found that Mexicans are the most likely to fall victim to fraudsters, with 44% hit in the last five years. Chip and PIN-less America comes second, at 42%, followed by India at 37%. The UK ranks sixth at 34%, well above its European neighbours, Germany (13%) and the Netherlands and Sweden (both 12%).

Identity theft replaces credit card fraud as the greatest concern from fraud exposure in this year's survey with 49% of respondents saying that they are very concerned about possible harm to their financial standing and rating.

Yet many consumers continue to exhibit risky behaviours, including keeping written records of PINs, throwing un-shredded documents containing sensitive information into bins and using public computers or PCs without security software to do Internet banking and to shop online.

Consumers are keen to hear from their banks if they are at risk, with 82% 'very interested' in being notified (by mobile phone initially) before action is taken if unusual activity on their account or card has been spotted.

Shirley Inscoe, senior fraud analyst, Aite, says: "Financial institutions, issuers and retailers need to enlist customers in the fight against fraud, educate them on prevention best practices, and reassure them of policies should fraud occur. Maintaining customer satisfaction, loyalty and preserving wallet share can be achieved by communicating with and enlisting the customer in the fight against fraud. "