Looking at the individual payments instruments, over the year to the end of June 2007:
- Cheque fraud was 1.4c per $1,000 transacted, compared with 2.4c for the previous year;
- Debit card fraud was 7.0c per $1,000, compared with 8.2c for the previous year; and
- Credit card fraud was 38.6c per $1,000 for credit, compared with 38.9c for the previous year.
The other relevant data relates to how frequently fraud incidents occur. Data for the 12 months to the end of June 2007, shows that there were 8 fraud incidents for every 100,000 transactions across the three payments instruments. Last year this was 7 fraud incidents per 100,000 transactions.
For the 12 months to the end of June 2007, incidence of fraud for:
- Cheques was 0.5 incidents for every 100,000 cheques written
- Debit cards was 2.1 fraud incidents in every 100,000 transactions;
- Credit cards was 16.7 fraud incidents per 100,000 transactions
In percentage terms, fraud incidence levels are all very small (cheque - 0.0005%, debit card - 0.0021% and credit card - 0.0167%).
It is important to note that the APCA data relates to financial institutions which include banks, building societies and credit unions. Data for banks has not been provided separately.
Mr Bell said: “While it is positive to see that there were falls in the value of fraud incidence across all three individual payments instruments and at the aggregate level over the past year, it must be remembered that there is only two years of data available. When we consider that payments systems involve billions of transactions and trillions of dollars each year, the levels of fraud are very low.”
“Compared to the UK, our rate of fraud for debit and credit cards combined is much lower. In Australia, the value plastic card fraud is 24c in every $1000, compared with 95c in every $1000 in the UK.”
“Banks work very hard to ensure that fraud levels remain low, installing many safeguards to ensure that customer information and accounts are protected. Banks have systems in place to constantly monitor transactions and take action to protect accounts, sometimes even before a customer notices there may be an issue.”
Customers can play their part in fraud prevention, by taking some simple steps to reduce risk. For example, even though fraud incidence is very low, stolen cheque books, debit cards and credit cards make up a significant category within the fraud statistics while stolen PINs also feature prominently.
Tips to reduce fraud
There are positive steps a customer can take to minimise the risk of fraud occurring such as:
- store your cheque book in a safe place where no-one can steal it;
- never let your credit card out of sight when making a payment;
- never disclose or keep a record of your PIN with your card;
- ensure you check your statements regularly and notify your bank immediately if you notice any unauthorised transactions;
- ensure your letterbox at home is secure so identity thieves cannot steal your mail;
- install anti-virus and firewall software on your computer to protect your personal information.
More information on security and fraud prevention can be found on the ABA and member banks’ websites.