Card fraud increased in 2012

Card fraud within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) increased in 2012 for the first time since 2008, driven mainly by higher internet fraud. The third report on card fraud, published by the European Central Bank (ECB), finds that more efforts will be required to ensure the security of online card payments as internet purchases continue to grow. At the same time, fraud as a share of the total value of transactions remained below the levels recorded between 2008 and 2010.
 
In 2012 €1 in every €2,635 spent on credit and debit cards issued within SEPA (the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland) was lost to fraud. That represents 0.038% of a total of €3.5 trillion in transactions, up from 0.036% in 2011. The total value of fraud increased by 14.8% in 2012 compared with 2011, reaching €1.33 billion. Compared with 2008, the overall amount of fraud decreased by 9.3%, while the value of transactions increased by 17% (see the chart). “These data show we must remain vigilant against card fraud, although it is also reassuring to see that counterfeit levels are lower inside SEPA than outside, thanks to higher security standards,” said Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB.
 
The report, compiled by the Eurosystem (the ECB and the 18 national central banks of the euro area), looks at fraud using different kinds of cards (debit and credit) and according to type of usage. In 2012 some 60% of the value of fraud resulted from card-not-present (CNP) payments – i.e. payments via post, telephone or the internet – while roughly one-quarter resulted from point-of-sale (POS) terminals and about one-sixth from automated teller machines (ATMs).