Why Don't Banks Make Payment Cards Secure

MakeCardssecure

Replace the word "reasonable" with "unnecessary"

I'm... upset that the payments schemes and their member banks insist you take unnecessary care of your customers payment credentials and you want them to implement a more secure system so you don't have to worry about it.

Now replace you with...

Millions of payment cards users and hundreds of thousands of merchants.

I as a payment card user I want to make transactions without having to repeatedly hand over everything a criminal could use to hijack my card account.
I as a merchant do not want to have to ask for that information, I don't want it and I shouldn't need it but the banks force me to do this way. Why!?

Because the cost of a properly secure system might knock the froth of their bonuses... not a good enough excuse IMHO. Recent history has shown the banks to be !!!!less greed driven institutions who are not above playing fast and loose with other peoples money and their attitude towards payment cards is the same. I've only recently become a Merchant and now seeing this issue from both sides I am shocked and appalled. If everyone could be a merchant for a day we might see a lot more pressure on the banks to clean up their act!

bert&ernie

Funny that it only seems to be you saying its unnecessary.

Nobody forced you to become a card merchant, so you come across a bit whiney.

The banks aren't simply going to grant your wishes. We might get there over time, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

What would mix things up a bit is a real competitor to the MasterCard/Visa duopoly - a new payment scheme engineered from the ground up to be secure. Again, I wouldn't hold your breath though.

James

In 2007 I wrote the above article in this Forum on How to Beat Most types of Card Fraud.

It still holds good. Click here.

For 6 years now I've had in situa a system to deter ID Theft (Application Fraud). To date, no one I know who embraces this system has suffered from Application Fraud over the years.

CLick here for more info.

Hope you all find this interesting.

MakeCardssecure

@bert
Funny? You gave the impression you understood how OTP can be used to secure CNP card payments. Are you now arguing that this process doesn't remove the need to hand over all information necessary to make fraudulent transactions, or are you now saying you don't understand how this would work?

First you argue that it doesn't make commercial sense and now... Are you a keyboard warrior?

You may be right about breaking the duopoly... No I'm not holding my breath. I've researched this issue a lot and have had correspondance with Banks, card issuers, payment card organisations etc etc... over more than two years and the only way this will get fixed is when the problem gets to the size that over the counter fraud got to. That is the point where enough people say enough is enough sort it out! On the up side CNP fraud is the fastest growing area of fraud so that day will come.

Either way I posted on a credit card forum to raise awareness of the issue and encourage card holders to raise the question with their card issuer... especially if you've had your payment card details stolen and used fraudulently.

@james
Really informative post. I will definetely be following that up. False applications are also something that needs tightening up. Brings to mind the piece where a jounalist applied for a Credit card in the name of Mickey Mouse and got one!

Atom

Someone stole all my credit cards, but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends less than my wife does.