Under the new plans, cardholders will be required to give more
detailed information when making purchases remotely. Under existing
rules, only the cardholder’s name, card number and card expiry date
are necessary. The new scheme will include printing a three digit
number on the back of all cards to be given when making purchases
by telephone or on a web site, in addition to the cardholder’s home
address.
The move follows reports earlier this year by the Association
for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) of a 40% increase in total
card fraud to £190 million, although only a fraction of these
fraudulent transactions are thought to have been conducted on the
internet. The most prevalent type of counterfeiting involves
copying data from the magnetic stripe on one card without the
cardholder’s knowledge, and putting it onto another, a method known
as “skimming”. According to APACS, almost all internet fraud is as
a result of fraudsters using card details stolen from the “real”
world, not by interception of electronic communications.
It is understood that the joint initiative will come into force
next April.
