Card fraud in Australia among lowest in the world

Sydney, 10 November 2006

New statistics set the record straight on card fraud in Australia

Visa International has welcomed today’s release of data collated by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA), which provides the first comprehensive report of fraud levels in Australia. 
 
The statistics confirm total credit and debit card fraud in Australia is low in comparison with developed countries across the globe and when compared to other forms of crime in Australia.
 
“The facts are that for the year to 30 June 2006 of the 3.3 billion credit and debit transactions in Australia just over a quarter of a million transactions were fraudulent.” said Bruce Mansfield, Visa International’s Executive Vice President Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific.
 
“Fraud is an issue that is being successfully managed by the industry. Fraud is not on the rise nor is it rampant, as some coverage would suggest,” Mr. Mansfield said.
 
“Australia’s financial institutions are co-operating on security matters and investing in security systems.  These efforts have reduced fraud rates in Australia to about half that of the world average and about half of what it was in 2000.
 
“This dramatic improvement has been achieved during a period in which Visa’s card volume has doubled. You’re far more likely to have your car stolen than to experience a fraudulent transaction on your debit or credit card.
 
“Visa is working hard with its financial institution members to ensure fraud levels continue their downward trend as more cardholders shop online and rely on the convenience of cards over traditional less flexible payment methods.
 
”In the unlikely event that a Visa card is used for fraudulent or unauthorized purchases, the cardholder has 100 percent protection under Visa. If the payment wasn’t authorized by the cardholder then the cardholder isn’t liable. This is one of the key benefits of products such as Visa Debit.
 
“Fraud prevention is the responsibility of everyone – card companies, banks, police, merchants and the cardholder, but the good news is we are winning the battle,” Mr. Mansfield said.
 
Continual improvements in card and payment technology such as Verified by Visa, which provides cardholders with a personalized password for online transactions, are helping to produce historically low fraud levels. 
 
The payments system will become even more secure in the years ahead with the widespread adoption in Australia of smart cards. Smart cards carry a computer chip which cannot be replicated.  The technology offers the most effective protection against counterfeit fraud available in the payments world today.
 
Further improvement to payments security will be achieved with the replacement of signatures on cards. In the next 18 months, Australian financial institutions will introduce personal identification numbers (PIN) on credit and debit cards.
 
Visa also takes an aggressive approach to ‘phishing’ with consumers urged to report fraudulent emails to phishing@visa.com.
 
Visa continues to work with Australian banks and other payment industry players to win the battle against fraud.  In October, Visa helped launch the global Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council – this global body is designed to help promote the widespread adoption of an International Data Security Standard to protect sensitive account information when processed by merchants in Australia or overseas. 
 
In Australia Visa recently partnered with MasterCard Worldwide on the development of merchant education material, conducting a series of seminars to promote compliance with these important security standards.
 
Click here to view the full Fact Sheet
 
Media contact
Pauline Hayes
Visa International
ausinfo@visa.com

About Visa Australia

Visa is the leading payment brand in Australia with more than 12 million Visa-branded cards in the country and more than 500,000 acceptance locations.  For the 12 months ended June 2006, A$140 billion was spent at point of sale or withdrawn from ATMs in Australia using Visa cards.  For more information visit www.visa.com.au or email ausinfo@visa.com.